Author: Porter C. Taylor

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Hope (in the Resurrection) Changes Everything

Heavenly Father, this is your world. You are the source of all comfort, the author of all life, and the giver of all good things; you are both promise maker and promise keeper. We come before you with deep gratitude for giving us the spirit of adoption and making us joint heirs with Christ of your eternal kingdom. Bless this time, O Lord, and open your scriptures to us and us to your scriptures that we might know who you are, who we are, and whose we are. We ask this all in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Continue reading Hope (in the Resurrection) Changes Everything

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The Word of the Kingdom

This kingdom is good news for the poor, the downtrodden, the neglected, the forgotten, the overlooked, the abused and misused, the unemployed and underemployed, the sin-sick, the heartsick, and the soul-sick. This kingdom is freedom, it is release, it is salvation, it is jubilee, it is abundant life in the here and now. This kingdom is the news that God’s reign and rule is here, that God has put on flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood, that God is both covenant maker and covenant keeper, and that God will trample down death with his own death, opening up to us the way of eternal, abundant life. Continue reading The Word of the Kingdom

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Here am I, Send Me!

This is not just any God. This is the God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This is the God who chose a man to become a nation, who fashioned a people from himself, who rescued them from Egypt, who led them as a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, who settled them into the Promised Land. This is the God who is both covenant maker and covenant keeper. This is the God who is seated upon the throne, reigning and ruling over creation. This is the “holy, holy, holy” whose glory fills the whole earth. This is the God before whom our only response can be, “Woe is me! I am lost! I am unclean! I am a ragamuffin!” Continue reading Here am I, Send Me!

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The God of Abraham Praise

God’s promises to Abraham are not given in a vacuum. These promises represent the outline of fulfillment to a promise God made in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3. The first humans sinned but God promised salvation. There would be enmity between the woman’s offspring and the serpent, and there would be toil when working the ground and pain in childbirth…but God promised to set the world to rights. The promises to Abram in Genesis 12 are the beginning of that process!  Continue reading The God of Abraham Praise

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“A Sermon a Day Keeps the Heresy Away”

In the last year I have taken to the adage, “A sermon a day keeps the heresy away.” I have committed to reading and/or listening to a sermon every day and it has paid dividends in my own preaching life. For the preacher, or for preaching student-practitioners, there is something particularly formative about reading a sermon manuscript or listening to a sermon preached.* When I see how someone else interacts with a difficult text or moves seamlessly from exegesis to application, or who has mastery over language, cadence, and tone it sets my heart on fire. Continue reading “A Sermon a Day Keeps the Heresy Away”

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Commissioned for Co-Mission

Friends, you have been commissioned for co-mission. I have intentionally made that last word co hyphen mission because the Holy Spirit is our paraclete, powerful presence, advocate, comforter, guide, and mission partner. We are never alone in mission; Jesus said he would not leave us as orphans but that he would send the Spirit to lead; he said that he would never leave us nor forsake us and that he would be with us, until the end of the age. The Spirit routinely, consistently, and faithfully forms, informs, and transforms Christ-followers into missionaries.  Continue reading Commissioned for Co-Mission

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Child of God, What Are Your Intentions?

And yet, we are here tonight because two thousand years ago a Jewish itinerant preacher was killed by Rome, raised from the dead, led his disciples to a hillside in Galilee, whereupon he gave them their final marching orders, and then he ascended into the heavens, where he is now seated at the right hand of the Father. This event has shocking theological meaning and missional ramifications. Continue reading Child of God, What Are Your Intentions?