Trouble in the Vineyard
My current church, Bel Air Presbyterian, is going through a series on the parables. Last week, Mark preached on Matthew 21:33-40 - The parable of the Wicked Tenants. It occurred to me that I had preached on the same text a few years back, so I thought I'd dig it up and post it, for the amusement of all my friends and neighbors.This was the first sermon I preached at Northminster Presbyterian Church - on October 6, 2002 - the first of several well-received sermons I preached there. I like the storytelling aspect of it, the repetition of "there is trouble," and the li

How's Your Life?
This is a talk given to the College Group ("Quest") at Bel Air Presbyterian Church on September 16, 2009. The text was Philippians 3:2-11. *****Philippians 3:2-11. 2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of those who mutilate the flesh! 3For it is we who are the circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and boast in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh— 4even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh.If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the l

There's a Bottle of Glenlivet Missing!
This is another entry from my sermon files. This one was delivered at the Memorial Service of my grandfather, Kenneth Jackson Silberberg: affectionately referred to as "Papa," who entered the Lord's presence on October 1, 2006. He enjoyed drinking Scotch, hence the sermon title, but you ought to know that my Grandmother ("Granny") strongly disapproved of it at the time: "Papa would have loved it, Gran" "But he's not going to be there!" "Okay Granny. I'll take it out." So - the title didn't make it into the program, but it stayed on my preaching copy, and I know that it fit with Papa's very dry sense of humor; much like his scotch. I still mi