Music

May 11, 2014 – “Six Feet” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on May 11, 2014.

John 10:11-18
and Psalm 23

It’s “Good Shepherd Sunday.”

Three weeks after Easter Day is always Good Shepherd Sunday.

It doesn’t take long, flipping through the Bible,

to understand why this theme gets a whole Sunday.

The Bible is filled with sheep and shepherds—

–REAL sheep, and REAL shepherds,

but also the important METAPHOR of how God calls and cares for us.

Maybe that’s why the 23^rd Psalm is our most popular Psalm.

It has been set to music,

inspired work on canvas

burnished on our memory.

It’s recited at funerals, at bedsides,

at commencements and confirmations.

But what surprises—is the range of impact this Psalm has.

The 23^rd Psalm is NOT popular just among the pew-sitters,

to be found only in dusty old hymnals

or in the next generation of Christian song writers.

The 23^rd Psalm is equally popular among the popular—

–in songs you might actually hear blaring from iPods. [1] [Read more…]

2013 11 24 – Songs New and Old from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.

A sermon preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on November 24, 2013.

Luke 1: 67-79
and Psalm 98

Tuesday this week, I did something

that, as far as I can figure, is seldom done anymore these days

particularly with the rise of

speakerphones and skype and teleconferencing:

On Tuesday I got up bright and early to fly to Minneapolis

for a six-hour meeting at Westminster Presbyterian Church

and then got on another plane and flew home that night.

I needed to be there in person.

I am helping to plan a conference there in April

and I needed to see the space and size it up

so I can get a sense of where the 500 people

can register and eat and have workshops and get coffee.

That sort of thing.

So their associate pastor, Meghan Gage-Finn,

gave me the tour.

The Sanctuary…an old, beautiful, mahogany festooned sanctuary

The grand hall, the office complex, the Christian education wing

What you might expect from a thriving, downtown church.

The last stop before heading off for various other meetings

was the choir loft, which was impressive

and then the “kids choir” room next door.

I walked in and Meghan flicked on the lights

and on a rack to the left as we walked in

were the kids choir robes:

a maroon red with a white lacy upper portion.

And I immediately smiled.

[Read more…]

Sermon: Six Feet

Sermon: Songs Old and New