Proper 16 / August 24, 2014 / Year A

Exodus 1:8-2:10 , Psalm 124, Romans 12:1-8, Matthew 16:13-20

Preached: August 24, 2014, All Saints’ Church, Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY

I’m going to start this morning with a tiny little exercise; it shouldn’t take too long.

We’re going to start with a little bit of silence. Just a few moments where you don’t have to listen to anything, you don’t have to sing anything, you don’t have to rifle through any books, or leaflets, and you don’t have to listen to me talk at you.

I’ll ring a bell to bring us in and out of the silence–and during it, I have a few questions I want us to focus on:

I want you to think about whatever it is that is troubling you this morning.
What is tumbling around like a rock in your shoe, poking and prodding you?
What is making you uncomfortable?

What is frightening you?
What is making you mad?
What is making you feel useless? Hopeless?

In other words, what is weighing on you this morning?
What is weighing on your heart?

Let’s take two minutes to reflect on these things together.  Continue reading →