Scott's Thoughts

Water and Grace

2012-02-11T12:08:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I'm seriously behind in getting my sermons on the blog. I apologize to those who actually want to read them. Below is my sermon from 1/8/12. More to come soon. In our scripture today, we revisit John the Baptist, or John the Baptizer. John was a popular preacher. According to our text that we will read today, people from both the city and the countryside came to be baptized by John. The

The Rest of the Story

2012-02-07T10:15:00.001-06:00

OK, I'm getting behind in posting sermons again. I' am up to 2012, though. I guess that's a plus. I might have found a way to get the audio up. I'm using a download site and the audio will be up for 5 days. Below is a link to my New Year's Day sermon. I don't have the text. I did something a little different that day and just wrote an outline. Judge the results for yourself. I'll add the outline

Go. Tell.

2012-01-14T11:10:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm getting closer and closer to being caught up posting sermons. Here is my sermon from Christmas Day. The end of this one looks a little incomplete. I think I left it open on purpose so I could improvise something. I don't remember what that was, so use your imagination. I have to admit something I’m a little ashamed of. When I first found out Christmas would be on a Sunday this year, I

Even Me

2012-01-12T15:31:00.000-06:00

I've been trying to record all of my sermons lately. I've missed a few, but have recorded most of them. Last week, I started actually listening to them. I've learned a few things from doing so. One thing I learned is that I can actually listen to them. I wasn't too sure, which is why it took me so long to start listening to them. That being said, I have been trying to figure out a way to post

Pointing the Way

2012-01-10T20:06:00.000-06:00

I've really been slacking lately in posting my sermons. I apologize to those who look forward to them. This is my sermon from 12/11 (3rd Sunday of Advent). Enjoy. Comment. Any amateur astronomers here? Anyone have a telescope? I had a friend growing up that loved the stars. I think his dad liked it as much or more than he did. They had telescopes and books to help locate different planets and

Advent ponderings

2011-12-20T10:59:00.000-06:00

Hey, look at this an actual blog entry and not just another sermon. Whoa! I plan to do a “Life Update” sort of entry before the end of the year, or maybe just after the first. We’ll see. For now, I have to vent a little. There are a couple of things that are really, really getting on my nerves this Christmas season. I’m not sure why they are bothering me, but they are. And now I decided I

People Get Ready

2011-12-15T08:23:00.002-06:00

I'm still trying to get caught up on posting sermons. Here is my sermon from 12/4 (2nd Sunday in Advent). Enjoy.We like to get credit for good stuff that happens, don’t you agree? I think it’s just human nature to want to be known as the one who got the job done. Especially if you’re new. You know, if a new boss comes in and suddenly profits go up by 20% in the first year. Or a politician, a

Keep Awake

2011-12-13T15:28:00.001-06:00

This is my sermon from 11/27 (First Sunday of Advent). Enjoy.When is the last time you were surprised? I mean really, truly surprised? The last time I was surprised came one morning several months ago when Misty asked me, “When are you going to seminary?” This was before we had even talked about the possibility, but that’s a story for another day. Other than that I don’t remember the last time I

Sheep, Goats, & Love

2011-12-07T16:03:00.003-06:00

I'm still trying to get caught up on posting sermons. Here is the sermon from 11/20. For the bulk of this sermon, I told the story of "Papa Panov's Special Christmas", as written by Leo Tolstoy and as posted here: classiclit.about.comDo you know how much God loves you? Is it something you think about very often? I remember as a little boy in Sunday School and at VBS singing “Jesus Loves Me.” “

Risk for Gain

2011-11-30T13:19:00.001-06:00

Here is my sermon from 11/13. I'm getting further behind. Sorry.Chapters 24 & 25 of Matthew’s gospel are called Jesus’ Eschatological Discourse. Eschatology is the study of the end times, or the end of the present age and the coming of the age to come. In other words, in this section, Jesus is telling the disciples about his return and about how to live during the time between his death and

Waiting

2011-11-17T13:49:00.002-06:00

Here is my sermon from 11/6. I'm still a week behind in getting these things posted. I'll try to catch up this weekend.Weddings are a big deal. Many of you know that. They bring out big emotions. Joy, sorrow, anger. It’s one of those moments where emotions are on edge and the least little thing can tip the scale. Which makes weddings prime real estate for disaster. For a long time one of my

Humble Servant

2011-11-09T12:58:00.002-06:00

Well, it looks like I forgot to post last week's sermon. Here 'tis. I remember not liking this one very much. Maybe you will like it more than I.A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy boulevard, when suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing and stopped, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the

True Love

2011-10-27T14:57:00.000-05:00

Here is last week's sermon. Enjoy.I’ve never been very good at debate. I guess I don’t think well on my feet. Typically, if I’m in a disagreement with someone or some sort of discussion, I’ll have a few things to say. But when it’s over I always think of 3 or 4 things I should have or could have said. I can remember a few years ago I had a meeting in Gulf Shores that didn’t go particularly well.

Schoolin'

2011-10-26T14:18:00.004-05:00

We're on our break in Christian Beliefs. Today is one of those turn you brain to Jell-O type of days. We're talking about Christology. Specifically the history of the debate over the nature of Christ. Fun stuff. Athanasius & Apollinarius v. Theodore & Nestorius, Alexandria v. Antioch. Fun stuff.Yesterday I participated in my third funeral in less than 6 months. This time I actually did the

Who and Whose...

2011-10-20T12:25:00.002-05:00

In keeping with Thursday tradition, here is last week's sermon. As I reread a little of it, it seems like the ending is a little abrupt. That's not how I ended, but now I can't remember how I ended. Something about how we are still praying for guidance on how we can minister to our community, I think. Enjoy, and feel free to offer feedback/constructive criticism/debate/questions.There’s an old

Class on...

2011-10-19T14:22:00.003-05:00

I'm back in class today. I didn't get any sort of update posted last week because I had a test in my Christian Beliefs class (which is usually where I start these things.) I go the test back today. I made an A. That rocks! I made a B on my first paper in this class, so I guess I'm sitting at a solid B+ right now.Dr. Matthews is supposed to be one of the toughest graders at MTS, so I think I can

Where Do We Go From Here?

2011-10-13T12:42:00.002-05:00

Here is my sermon from 10/9/11. This sermon is sort of a kick off at Mt. Moriah. I am ready to move our church from going to church into being the church. You'll see the "call to action" at the end. As always, this is not exactly as delivered. And I welcome any feedback.Imagine you have a daughter or a son who is getting married. You plan a wedding to be followed by a full-blown dinner and

The Twist

2011-10-06T12:57:00.002-05:00

Here is my sermon from 10/2/2011. I'm still trying to figure out how to get audio posted. If you're interested in hearing a sermon, I posted one on Google plus a few weeks ago. Try this link - "Crumbs" (audio). Then let me know how it works. Thanks!Here's the message from 10/2/2011:Do you like twist endings? You know a story where you think you know the plot. You know you have it figured out,

Release the Kraken!

2011-10-05T13:12:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm sitting in the classroom in Memphis, waiting for class to start. We're getting a late start today because the professor had to attend a funeral. I have 15 minutes to kill, so here are some random, mostly unrelated thoughts.I have a test tonight in Church History. That should be fun. Or not. I've studied. Gotta study more after this class.We got our first papers back in this class. I

To the Vineyard

2011-09-28T15:04:00.002-05:00

I'm in class today, but not "live-blogging." I blame a lack of sleep. I was up until 3 am finishing a paper to turn in today. So, no updates other than this, here is my sermon from this past Sunday. I invite feedback.I don’t have a story or a movie scene to get us started today or TV show to talk about. I just have a question. By what authority are you here? By whose authority are you sitting in

When Did You Get Here?

2011-09-22T14:01:00.002-05:00

Here is my sermon from last week. My wife said it was the best yet... I'm not so sure. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get audio of these sermons posted. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them.How many times have you heard the phrase, “That’s not fair!” If you have kids you’ve probably heard it many more times than you care to. And what is your normal response? Life’s not fair.

Let's do this!

2011-09-21T12:54:00.005-05:00

It's time for another Wednesday of class. (And then Thursday, but for some reason I never blog my Thursday classes.) Today will be interesting. This class I like (Christian Beliefs). The next class is so-so (Church History). Then I have a lot of work to do tonight. I have two papers to write. Well, one and a half, really. I started one of them last night.For my Formation class I have to write "My

As We Have...

2011-09-15T15:45:00.002-05:00

Here is my sermon from Sunday 9/11. Quite an interesting day to preach and quite an interesting Gospel passage from the Lectionary (especially given the day).This was not an easy sermon to write. As a matter of fact, it was down-right hard. I stayed up even later than usual last night working on this and not because I couldn’t figure out what to say. I guess it was more of a struggle with what I

Class(ic) Wednesday

2011-09-14T14:24:00.005-05:00

I'm back in class today. I didn't get to write a prelude today. We're actually into our first break already. I'm in Christian Beliefs right now. It's been an interesting class already.We began with a discussion of Liberation Theology and how it relates to the African-American culture. That took us down the long tangled rabbit hole that is racism in America. We went into implied racism, white

Together

2011-09-13T15:33:00.002-05:00

I'm still trying to get caught up on sermons. Here's last week's message (9/4). I like to add as a disclaimer: This is the transcript. It is not as delivered. Thank you!Feel free to offer feedback.The disciples came to Jesus because they were arguing and they wanted their teacher to settle the matter. “Teacher, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” They wanted to know which of them was