Lazarus the First

Introduction

When Jesus heard that his friend Lazarus was gravely ill, the first thing he did was nothing.

To be fair: I don’t know exactly what it ...

Grieve, Not as the World Grieves

Introduction

Some years ago, when I first heard the phrase “bright sadness” to describe the season of Lent, I loved the way it sounded, but ...

On Suicide

Introduction

Death is never easy. But death is even harder when someone is too young to die or dies under especially difficult circumstances. The tragic ...

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?

Introduction

The story is told of a man who visited a cemetery to leave flowers at the grave of his dearly departed mother. He couldn't help but notice ...

God of Our Losses

All of us go through suffering and times of loss in our lives. There are suffering people here tonight, troubled people, worried people, uncertain people. ...

Good News for a Weeping World

Do you hear the crying? If we would listen, especially with our imagination, we would hear the weeping from all parts of our world—from Nicaragua, ...

Running Through the Cemetery

Have you noticed how much running there is in this text? This is a breathless text. It's got sweat all over it. Everybody in this text is running. You ...

The Hardest Death

Truman [Dollar] came here [to our church] eight years ago. He had been pastor of a large church in Detroit. He had made some choices that made it necessary ...