The manuscript for today’s #sermon, “King of Kings,” is on my blog. https://jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2025/11/30/king-of-kings/
In a sentence, the sermon says, “The problems is kings, and if you insist that Jesus is a king, make sure claiming him as king (or Lord) means that you’re rejecting all the Caesars of the world.”
The peace that Isaiah envisions is not a ceasefire, not a truce, but a total reordering of human life around the presence of God.
And again, Christians recognize this in Christ. He is the one who makes peace — not by force, not by intimidation, but through reconciliation. He is the one who stretches out his arms on the cross to draw all people to himself. He is the one who rises from the grave still bearing the wounds of love, not the weapons of war.
Isaiah’s vision is not sentimental. It is revolutionary. And it calls us, in this Advent season, to walk in the light of the Lord — to be agents of peace in a world that still clings to its swords.
This means the peace we are called to isn’t abstract. It’s practical. It looks like softening a hardened heart. Offering forgiveness where resentment has taken root. Choosing patience in the checkout line. Making room for the person who frustrates us. Turning away from the instinct to escalate. Seeing the image of God in the person who disagrees with us.
These are the small, daily ways we begin to beat swords into plowshares in our own lives. These are the ways God’s peace becomes visible during this season when the world is rushing and frantic and fearful.
On this first Sunday of Advent, Isaiah invites us to lift our eyes. To see the world not only as it is, but as God promises it will be. To believe that the new creation is not merely a future hope but a present reality that Christ has already begun.
The decorations we start to see in these early December days can lull us into thinking that Advent is simply about preparing for a holiday. But Isaiah’s words won’t let us shrink the season down to sentiment or a family celebration. Advent calls us to prepare for nothing less than the inbreaking of God’s reign — in us, through us, and ultimately for the world, the whole world.
You can view the sermon directly at this link.
https://entangledstates.org/2025/11/29/a-new-hope-rising-the-promise-of-a-new-creation/
#sermon : a discourse or address
- German: die Predigt
- Italian: sermone
- Portuguese: sermão
- Spanish: sermón
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A daily challenge to chain words together @ https://wordwallgame.com
The manuscript for today’s #sermon is on my blog.
https://jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2025/11/23/the-sin-and-danger-of-self-love-described/
This sermon is an edited (for length) version of a sermon preached in the Plymouth colony (in what is now Massachusetts) in 1621 by Robert Cushman. The sermon is a deep look at 1 Corinthians 10:24, “Do not seek your own advantage but that of the other” as translated in the New Revised Standard Version updated edition.
"Do You Have A King?"
Devotional Thoughts and Prayers for Christ the King Sunday, November 23, 2025
https://youtu.be/RZNw-DnXj-Q
#Jesus #GoodNews #Gospel #ChristTheKing #Sermon
"How Are Your Priorities These Days?"
Devotional Thoughts and Prayers for Sunday, November 16, 2025
https://youtu.be/SeylXXJMOZ4
#Jesus #GoodNews #Gospel #Priorities #Sermon
Three years ago, when the Gospel assigned for this week last was read, I had this to say:
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is warning us that the Apocalypse is coming. That word, apocalypse means “hidden” in Greek. Jesus is telling us in the Gospel today that the violence and injustice that is present in the world, and which seems hidden from us, is about to become manifest and evident to everyone. It will be a hard time, a violent time. It will bring destruction and ruin to many as the secret structures of violence and oppression become powerful and uncontrolled.
I’m traveling this week and was trying to find time to squeeze in a block of time to film a sermon. But as I looked at what I had to say three years ago, sadly, the message is still relevant to this moment today.
Here’s a link to the post from November 2022.
https://entangledstates.org/2025/11/15/are-you-ready-to-make-your-defense-2/
"Do You Know the Most Important Thing?"
Devotional Thoughts and Prayers for Sunday, November 9, 2025
https://youtu.be/k2gg8COUnPE
#Jesus #GoodNews #Gospel #Sermon
When the Body Fails but the Soul Grows Strong (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)
🎥 Watch the full message: https://youtu.be/YSep0tx71cc
📝 Read the blog post: https://www.scottlapierre.org/eternal-perspective-on-suffering/
#DontLoseHeart #EternalPerspective #ScottLaPierre #ChristianEncouragement #2Corinthians #Sermon #FaithThroughSuffering
The manuscript for today’s #sermon, “Dreaming God’s Dream,” is on my blog: https://jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2025/11/02/dreaming-gods-dream/
Cornelius isn’t the only one who experiences a conversion in Acts 10. Peter does, too. Right along with Peter, we are called to see how big and radically inclusive God’s love is.
"Have You Seen Jesus?"
Devotional Thoughts and Prayers for Sunday, November 2, 2025
https://youtu.be/di2GEUUZE0U
#Jesus #GoodNews #Gospel #Zacchaeus #Sermon
There’s a question at the heart of All Saints’ Day. It’s not a question we usually ask out loud in church, but it sits quietly in the background of our prayers and hymns, in the candles and the names spoken at the altar.
The question is this:
Do we still believe in the future?
Do we still trust that God is not done with the world—that the story is moving somewhere, that there will come a day when what is wrong will be made right?
The prophet Daniel had a vision of such a day. He saw the old powers, the beasts who ruled by violence and fear, stripped of their dominion. He saw the Kingdom handed over to “one like a Son of Man”—a figure who embodies God’s own authority and justice. Daniel saw the vindication of God’s people, the beginning of something entirely new.
That vision isn’t meant to be a fantasy. It’s a promise. It’s a way of saying that God has not abandoned us to the empires of this world. The dominions and powers that seem so strong—whether they wear crowns or camouflage, whether they march in parades or sit behind glowing screens—those powers are not eternal. Their time will end. God’s Kingdom will not.
Jesus takes up that same hope when he says, “Blessed are you who are poor now, for yours is the Kingdom of God.” It’s a declaration, not a wish. It’s the future spoken in the present tense.
And that brings us back to the question:
Do we believe that future is real?
Do we trust it enough to live as if it’s coming?
For many of us, that’s not an easy “yes.” We look around and see a world that feels stuck. We hear wars and rumors of wars, children still go hungry, the powerful still get their way. There’s not much, on the surface, to base hope on.
But Jesus invites us to see more deeply than the surface.
You can view the sermon directly here.
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https://entangledstates.org/2025/11/01/all-saints-2025-do-you-still-believe-in-the-future/
The manuscript for today’s #sermon, “God’s Dream of Justice,” is on my blog https://jeffsjottings.wordpress.com/2025/10/26/gods-dream-of-justice/
In this sermon, I bring the Prophet Micah’s ancient call for justice into our situation today in the United States, calling us to stand up against Christo-Nationalism.
It is often said that more miracles happen in a church basement than in the nave.
In the nave, we use the polished brass, we process in order, we sing beautiful hymns, we hear fine sermons. It’s holy space—yes—but it can sometimes become a place where we perform our piety.
But in the basement… that’s where people show up to be honest. That’s where the recovery groups meet. That’s where the food pantry is. That’s where tears are shed and quiet prayers are whispered. That’s where people say, in one form or another, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
And God answers.
Because humility cracks the door open. Grace rushes in.
The Pharisee thought he could climb his way up to God on a ladder of good deeds. The tax collector simply fell to his knees and discovered that God had already come down to meet him.
The way up is down. The path to righteousness is humility. The one who knows their need of God’s mercy is the one who goes home justified.
May we have the courage to be honest in God’s presence—not with polished performances, but with open hands and contrite hearts.
And may God, who exalts the humble, meet us there with mercy and grace.
You can view the sermon directly by following this link.
https://entangledstates.org/2025/10/25/the-pride-of-the-fallen/
🙏 Choose God's way, not the foolish way! This inspiring sermon, with a nod to Jiminy Cricket, reminds us to live humbly and trust in His promises.
Watch now: https://zurl.co/5pseY
#Sermon #ImNoFool #Faith #GodsWay #Christianity #Humility #JesusChrist
Jesus’ parable is not just about prayer as personal comfort. It’s about the kind of prayer that sustains action. We’re told to keep working even when we don’t see the fruits of our labor.
Many of the great movements toward justice in our time have been long, slow, often discouraging struggles: gender equality, civil rights for all citizens, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people, immigration reform, the defense of creation itself.
None of these have happened overnight. And none of them will happen without people who keep showing up, keep praying, keep insisting that justice is coming.
This is how faith works in the face of injustice: we keep going. We keep praying. We keep trusting that God will act—even when we cannot see how.
I’m reminded of something the civil rights leader Andrew Young once said in the PBS series God in America. He told the story of a voting rights march that was about to be stopped by a line of police. The marchers prayed together and sang a hymn—and somehow, the line parted.
He didn’t say it was magic. He didn’t say God forced anyone’s hand. But he bore witness to a moment when persistence in prayer opened a way that wasn’t visible before.
And the people who keep faith—who keep showing up in prayer and in action—are often the ones who get to see that way open.
And so, we return to Jesus’ question: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Faith is not about believing that everything will go smoothly. Faith is not about believing that the judge will always be fair or that justice will come quickly. Faith is the decision to keep showing up before the throne of God. To keep asking. To keep working. To keep believing that God’s justice is not a fantasy—it is the ultimate reality toward which all creation is moving.
Whether we are the widow or the judge—or perhaps somewhere in between—Jesus is inviting us to be people of persistent prayer. To kneel when our knees are knocking. To act when others are silent. To trust that even when evil seems too big, God is not done.
And when the Son of Man comes, may he find in us not despair, not cynicism, but faith. Faith that persists. Faith that prays. Faith that acts for justice.
You can view the sermon directly using this link.
https://entangledstates.org/2025/10/18/persistant-prayer-when-facing-a-world-filled-with-injustice/
I never read the proclamations of generals before battle, the speeches of fuehrers and prime ministers, the solidarity songs of public schools and left-wing political parties, national anthems, Temperance tracts, papal encyclicals and sermons against gambling and contraception, without seeming to hear in the background a chorus of raspberries from all the millions of common men to whom these high sentiments make no appeal.
George Orwell (1903-1950) English writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
Essay (1941-09), “The Art of Donald McGill,” Horizon Magazine
More info about this quote: wist.info/orwell-george/79754/
#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #georgeorwell #diatribe #engagement #inspiration #majesty #pomposity #proclamation #sentiments #sermon #speech #speechifying #commonman #commonpeople
