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January 15, 2012Romans 12:1-2, 9-13Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I spent 2½ days this week in conversation with brothers and sisters from the Roman Catholic, Episcopal, United Methodist, and Presbyterian traditions. Some of them were pastor...
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January 8, 2012Matthew 2:1-11Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
The familiar story of the Magi presents us with two very different forms of piety. One of them we know quite well; the other is largely unfamiliar to us. The familiar piety is the pi...
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January 1, 2012Galatians 4:4-7, Luke 2:21-40Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
In yesterday’s comics, Dilbert – who often wonders why he can’t sustain a relationship – tried to avoid a New Year’s Eve kiss by arguing, “I don’t celebr...
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December 25, 2011Christmas Day SermonHeartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
There is something about the old, familiar Christmas story that I never really noticed before this year. And it is broadening my appreciation of the story, as well as my unde...
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December 4, 2011Proverbs 8:22-31Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
It is something of a moral obligation for preachers – and not just for preachers, but for many people of faith – to shake our heads and cringe at some of the ‘over the top...
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December 11, 2011Jeremiah 31:3-37Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
Throughout this Advent season, we’ve been preparing for the moment of Christmas by seeing how the Christmas event is not out of character for God. To put it positively, it is e...
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December 18, 2011John 1:1-14Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
Throughout this season of Advent, we have been focused on the meaning of God’s creativity as we prepare for our celebration of the birth of Christ. We’ve been guided by our readin...
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November 27, 2011John 1:1-5Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I got the impression the other day that Christmas may soon be here. And with Christmas comes the Christmas Story, which – frankly – raises one of the thorniest theological issues t...
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November 13, 2011Matthew 25:14-30Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
Bishop Yvette Flunder is a pastor in San Francisco, whose parish – City of Refuge - Chris and I plan to attend next Sunday. I remember hearing her describe once how, as a chil...
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October 23, 2011Matthew 23:1-22Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
Ever since coming into Jerusalem, entering the temple, and profoundly stopping up the trafficking of money there, Jesus has been under attack by the religious leadership in Jerusal...
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November 6, 2011I Thessalonians 4:13-18Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I remember 20 some years ago when the Thomas Nelson publishing company came out with a “New King James Translation” of the Bible. It was marketed with a description tha...
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October 9, 2011Matthew 22:1-14Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
What is your reaction to this morning’s Scripture reading? A friend of mine is a Lutheran pastor, who traditionally ends every Gospel reading with the words, “The Gospel of the ...
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Isaiah 5:1-7
Let me sing for my beloved my love-song concerning his vineyard:My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines;he built a watch-tower in the midst of it, and hewed out ...
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September 5, 2011Matthew 21:23-32Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I want to begin this sermon with three disclaimers. Here’s what I am not saying in this sermon.
First, nothing that I am going to say during the next 45 minutes (!) should be ...
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September 18, 2011Matthew 20:1-16Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
The kingdom of heaven – as it is described in our Scripture reading – seems patently unfair. Yes, we understand the landowner’s argument: He did agree on a wage of one dena...
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September 11, 2011Matthew 18:21-35Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I read recently someone suggesting that the Scripture texts that we have been following of late from Matthew’s gospel are almost composed like a commentary on the different pa...
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September 4, 2011Matthew 18:15-20Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
It happens in the worst of churches; it happens in the best of churches. Apparently it was happening back in the late first century of the church, when Matthew was writing his Go...
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August 21, 2011Matthew 16:13-20Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
The Roman Catholic Church has often seen this text as establishing itself and its succession of popes as the legitimate church. In an essay on the official Roman Catholic web site,...
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August 7, 2011Matthew 14: 13-21Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
As people of faith, you and I live within a song. It is a song that begins with the account of creation in Genesis 1, where God creates every interwoven part of the world and calls...
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July 31, 2011Matthew 14:13-21Heartland Presbyterian ChurchD. Mark Davis
I remember the day that I left my comprehensive exams. I had just passed what felt to me like a grueling contest between me and my committee. In my corner was me, the guy who had bee...
