Wake Up Time

Ah, the perils of technology.

In filming the second sermon for the second year of my Doctor of Ministry program, I hit a snag in taping. And it's a shame because, in some ways, I am very pleased with the way this one turned out. It was trying to accomplish three different (and seemingly disparate) tasks: 1.) to address the issue of stewardship at Plymouth Church, 2.) to preach an "apologetic" sermon (i.e., a sermon that speaks to those who are, in some sense, outside of Christian faith) and 3.) to further my project of practicing vulnerability in the way I prepare and preach my sermons. To my not inconsiderable surprise, the sermon mostly manages to do all three of those things. And I have been very gratified by the congregation's response.

What I have posted below is a partial video of the sermon -the camera stopped recording about 2/3rd's of the way through. But you can hear audio of the entire sermon here. (Click on the link; click again where it says "download." The sermon begins at about the 4:30 mark). You can also read the manuscript here, and read my reflection paper (which offers some insight into what I was trying to do in this sermon) here.