Based on her career as a hospice nurse, Bonnie Ware has written a book entitled The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. In her book, Ware describes the most common regrets express by her patients as they look back over life. This Sunday launches a new sermon series exploring those “top five regrets” through the […]
Author Archives: Jeff Miner
Sacred Pause
Life comes at us quickly! No time to think! So we tend to operate on automatic pilot, allowing events to sweep us along. But here we are at the turn of a New Year — a great time to stop, think, evaluate, and plan. Create a little time in your schedule to pause, worship, hear […]
There Is Enough
Have you seen that TV commercial where the clerk says to the customer, “Have a super-sparkly day!” Many Christians engage in a similar kind of over-the-top happy-talk. To someone who is downcast, they might say something like, “Don’t you worry. The Lord will provide. Everything will be ok.” But will it? Should a thoughtful believer […]
The Little Drummer Boy
Christmas is the season of gift giving. But many of us don’t feel we have a lot to give — both literally and metaphorically. Most of us don’t feel gifted or powerful or wealthy. What gift can we give? How can we play a meaningful role in the divine drama of life unfolding around us? […]
Christmas Fear
Picture it. Magi from the East arrived in Jerusalem saying they had seen a star heralding the birth of the long-awaited Messiah. In response, the Scriptures say that “all of Jerusalem was frightened.” But why? Why would God’s people be afraid that something wonderful was happening in their time? As we explore this, we might […]
The Sound of Silence
With this sermon we begin a brand new Christmas Season series. We’ll begin by digging deep into the story of the star that appeared at Jesus’ birth and the Wise Men who followed the star. Who were these Wise Men, what did they really see, and why did they associate the star with the birth […]
All Out?
Many of us tend to be idealists, romantics even. We find a new church and it seems so wonderful, and we’re convinced we’ve found the perfect spiritual family. Then something bad happens and we’re shattered and push away. Alone again. . . . But it doesn’t have to be like that. This sermon looks at […]
All In?
Most of us are introverted. Most of us are cautious. Most of us are really reluctant to open ourselves to church community. “What if something goes wrong? What if I get hurt? What they want more from me than I can give?” So we go it alone and end up spiritually anemic. This sermon takes […]
Do As You’re Told!
Many of us grew up learning God that way. We were handed a tidy box called “religious observance” and told, “God wants you to live in this box.” But the box smothered our souls and we found ourselves wondering, “Is this really the way to God?” This sermon re-traces the steps of a spiritual seeker […]
My Heart Will Go On
Have you ever been bitterly disappointed in God? How did you deal with that disappointment? This sermon looks at two spiritual seekers who became bitterly disappointed in Jesus. We’ll explore what happened and see how they responded — and what they learned in the process.
Miserable Me
Ever feel really down on yourself, like: “Why do I always mess up! Why do I keep repeating the same mistakes! What’s wrong with me?” This week we’ll study the life of a spiritual seeker who experienced some colossal failures, yet still triumphed, in spite of himself. How did he do it? What did he […]
Reinventing Myself
We hear a lot of talk about “sin.” But what is sin, really? And we hear a lot of talk about what God wants from us. But, when all the “religious speak” is stripped away, what does God really want from me? This sermon re-traces the steps of an unlikely spiritual seeker who discovered surprising […]
From A Safe Distance
It’s a dilemma that every spiritual seeker faces. Everywhere we turn, we see struggle and suffering, and usually feel so overwhelmed, we just shut down. Clearly, we can’t do everything. So how should we decide what God wants us to do? How much is enough? What does God expect of us?