chudgins4Sep 6, 20205 minMatthew 18:15-20: Courage to LoveLet me just look at you for a minute. Let me just enjoy seeing you all gathered here inside these familiar walls, on these familiar pews,...
chudgins4Mar 8, 20205 minMatthew 5:38-48: How To Pray for an EnemyToday’s Gospel lesson is full of some of the hardest teachings in the Bible: Turn the other cheek Give more than what is sued for Go the...
chudgins4Feb 26, 20204 minMatthew 6:1-6, 16-21: The Hidden Meaning of LentAn old saying goes, “If you give someone a fish they eat for a day. If you teach someone to fish they eat for a lifetime.” There is a lot...
chudgins4Feb 23, 20207 minMatthew 17:1-9 Rise, and do not be afraidMoses met the living God in the burning bush and in the devouring fire on top of Mount Sinai, and both times, it changed him. The first...
chudgins4Feb 9, 20206 minMatthew 5:13-16: Being Salt and LightI want to start by giving you some literary and geographical context for the Sermon on the Mount, which is contained in chapters 5, 6,...
chudgins4Feb 2, 20205 minMatthew 5:1-12: Blessed Are YouTake a moment to think about your blessings, to count your blessings, as the saying goes. You might even jot them down in the margins of...
chudgins4Jan 11, 20204 minMatthew 3:1-17: The Come-to-Jesus Meeting“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee the wrath that is to come?” John showed up in the wilderness preaching hellfire and...
chudgins4Jan 4, 20207 minJohn 1:1-18: Word of the YearEach year the Oxford English Dictionary issues its “word of the year,” the word or phrase that best encapsulates the mood or concerns of...
chudgins4Dec 27, 20195 minLuke 2:1-20: Great Joy for All PeopleWhat brings you joy at Christmas? Being with family? Enjoying the delight of children as they anticipate visits with Santa and their...
chudgins4Dec 27, 20196 minMatthew 2:13-18: And How Are the Children?Among the most accomplished and fabled tribes of Africa, no tribe was considered to have warriors more fearsome or more intelligent than...
chudgins4Dec 21, 20194 minMatthew 1:18-25: Love that LiberatesBy rights, Mary should have been executed. If a man takes a woman for his wife and discovers that she is not a virgin “she shall be...
chudgins4Dec 19, 20193 minMark 6:30-34: Oh rest beside the weary roadIt was called “The Blizzard of 1996.” It was the worst nor’easter snowstorm to hit the East Coast in decades. It hit Virginia, West...
chudgins4Dec 19, 20195 minMatthew 3:1-12, Romans 15:4-13: Wrestling and Resting in PeaceAre you a “wrestler” or a “rester”? Are you the sort of person who is constantly wrestling with God, struggling to work out your faith...
chudgins4Nov 30, 20195 minMatthew 24:36-44: A Ready HeartI never had much use for the Rapture. I think it’s bad exegesis, bad theology, and bad Christology. So all those years ago when the Left...
chudgins4Nov 23, 20195 minLuke 23:33-43: A Rugged Cross, A Ragged KingWhen Jesus left Nazareth, where his parents lived, he “made his home in Capernaum by the sea” (Matt 4:13). When Chris and I stepped off...
chudgins4Nov 23, 20197 minPhilippians 4:4-9: The Peace of a Thankful HeartThose of you who worship regularly at Butner Presbyterian Church know that I occasionally ask the congregation to participate in the...
chudgins4Nov 9, 20196 minLuke 20:27-38: Life After Life . . . Death Before DeathI want you to forget about life after life, put it right out of your mind and do not give it another thought. Don’t get me wrong: I...
chudgins4Oct 19, 20195 minLuke 18:1-8: Bothersome Widows and Limping MenBack in the summer of 2013, like so many thousands of men, women, youth, and children who were fed up with certain actions being taken by...
chudgins4Oct 13, 20197 minLuke 17:11-19: Faith in Strange PlacesIf you can imagine a map of Israel, you might close your eyes and see the small Sea of Galilee in the North feeding into the Jordan river...
chudgins4Oct 7, 20196 min2 Timothy 1:1-14: Of Grandmothers and Mustard Seeds“Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.” Can you recall a time when you were so discouraged that you...