The Gift of Christian Marriage — 5/13/12

May 152012
 

Genesis 2:18–24

May 13, 2012
Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

On this Mother’s Day Sunday, I want to talk about Christian marriage—and weddings in particular. A wedding is a service of worship, in which a couple joins their lives together in the presence of God and witnesses. The Bible says little about weddings, per se. They get mentioned in passing, such as the wedding at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. But nowhere is there a passage saying how to do a Christian wedding. I only wish it were so! Continue reading »

The Habit of Weekly Worship — 5/6/12

May 072012
 

John 4:19–26

 

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
May 6, 2012
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

What are you doing here? Is there something wrong with you? This is a weekend. Aren’t you supposed to be taking it easy? Hey, this could be a Bud moment! After all, this is the Northwest. Nobody goes to church out here, right? You’re the oddity in town when someone asks, “What did you do this weekend?” Church? Of all places to be! What were you thinking? Continue reading »

From Dropouts to Disciples 4/22/15

Apr 172012
 

Luke 24:13–35

April 15, 2012
Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

Heartbroken Cleopas! I feel like I know the guy. Reading through his story, I was struck by his humanity. So I want to take you on a journey into the experiences of Cleopas and his colleague.

Continue reading »

A Reason for Hope 4/1/12

Apr 032012
 

Romans 15:1–7, 13

 

April 1, 2012
Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

A reason for hope. How desperately we humans need a reason for hope! Hope is such a vital commodity! Lose hope, and you might as well lose life. We cling to hope precariously and tena-ciously.

But how can we retain hope? After all, the daily news offers scant reason for hope. Earthquakes killing tens of thousands, people shot in their homes, floods and fires, criminals—of both the white-collar and blue-collar variety—ripping off people, the economy tanking, dis-eases, brutality, and selfishness. If we have our eyes open, how can we hope? Continue reading »

Considerate Christian Community: 3/25/2012

Mar 262012
 

Romans 14:1–3, 13–23

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
March 25, 2012
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

Let’s say you are putting on a nice dinner party. You want it to be a gracious and festive affair. One of your guests is an alcoholic. Okay. Do you serve a little wine with dinner?

Or let’s say there is a highly rated new movie out that you have wanted to see. It is a quality movie and well-reviewed, but it does appear to have some questionable aspects to it that would probably require adult judgment. Do you take along teens?

Continue reading »

God and Government; 3/18/12

Mar 192012
 

Romans 13:1–7

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church                                                                                       
March 18, 2012
Roslyn, WA                                                                                                                  
Dr. James D. Berkley

I find politics perplexing and sometimes distasteful. When I’ve considered why, I think it is because government so often disappoints me. It must deal with so many gray areas in life. It is such a vast enterprise and so unwieldy, that it seems to defy management. Its dilemmas don’t resolve easily. I like to have logical, evident answers, and thus politics nearly always frustrates me. Continue reading »

Giving Ourselves to Something Greater; 3/11/12

Mar 132012
 

Romans 12:1–8

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church                                                                                       
March 11, 2012
Roslyn, WA                                                                                                                   
Dr. James D. Berkley

STEWARDSHIP. There, I’ve said it. Stewardship—for some a peculiar word, for others a guilt-inducing word, and for still others the foundation for their Christian life and service. Stewardship is the topic of this sermon—stewardship in its fullest sense.

Continue reading »

We’re Supported by Graft; 3/4/12

Mar 052012
 

Romans 11:16–24

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
Roslyn, WA
March 4, 2012
Dr. James D. Berkley

Let me tell you a story. My story is about God’s chosen people, his “olive tree.” Many thousands of years ago, God decided to grow the finest olive tree this world has ever seen. He wanted it to be a productive tree, bearing much fruit rich in oil. God envisioned a truly grand tree, not just a merely good one.

Continue reading »

Saved for Good; 2/26/12

Feb 272012
 

Romans 9:30–10:13

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
February 26, 2012
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

For those of you who cook, have you ever had someone come into your kitchen and rearrange it to fit their needs? We love to set up our workspaces just the way we want, but when someone moves the spoons or relocates the salt, when dirty dishes get put into the dishwasher with clean ones, when that butter in the refrigerator that is always behind the milk is now two shelves down, we get upset. We don’t like do-it-yourself rearrangements of our arrangements. Continue reading »

The Good, The Bad, and The Religious; 1/22/12

Jan 302012
 

Romans 3:19–31

Mt. Pisgah Presbyterian Church
January 22, 2012
Roslyn, WA
Dr. James D. Berkley

According to a kind of consensus religion these days, people generally construct three categories of persons: the good, the bad, and the religious. Think with me how this plays out. Hardly anybody would put themselves in the “bad” group. That’s for, like, Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler and Mafia hit men. And the “religious” group is pretty well reserved for saintly, otherworldly sorts who must be born that way—you know, people like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, and Billy Graham. Most people wouldn’t even want to be thought so strange. Continue reading »

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