Category Archives: Christian faith

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My Top Ten Posts in 2018

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Once again, as the old year passes and the new year beckons, it has been my custom to look back at my most popular posts of the year. Some years a theme emerges, and this year the theme is the idea of “transitions.” My two top posts were tributes to two extraordinary elders at their passing. There is also the sermon I preached at the baptism of my grandson in June. Other posts tried to bring some insight from Scripture and Tradition to bear on our broken world.

It is good to remind ourselves that even in tumultuous times like these the quotidian ebb and flow of life persists; there are births and deaths and the markings and celebrations therof.

Half of these posts were devotions I wrote for the United Church of Christ STILLSPEAKING project. I thank my editors for permission to republish them. Two of them were sermons I preached as a guest preacher.

About my Website: It is non-commercial and open source (but please give attribution if you quote or copy stuff). I pay for my domain name and for a WordPress tier that keeps you from having to see ads. I don’t make a penny on it, and there are no gimmicks. I had forty thousand visits in 2018, and  I currently have 124 followers. Thank you all so much for visiting and come by again in 2019.

Here are the top ten posts for 2018 in order of popularity:

Gabriel J. Fackre (1926-2018) A Remembrance

A Eulogy for Rabbi Harold I. Salzmann

“We’re Still Learning.” A Devotion on Mark 10:42-45

“Down to Earth” A Sermon on John 13:1-17

“Small Beginnings” A Baptismal Sermon on Mark 4:30-34

“Unbearable Words” A Sermon on Amos 7:7-15

“We Shall Walk Through the Valley in Peace” A Devotion on Psalm 23:4

“SHARE!” A Devotion on Acts 2:44-45

“Living Water and Leaky Containers” A Devotion on Jeremiah 2:13

“Scorched by Holy Fire!” A Devotion on Jeremiah 20:8b-9

Once again, as in previous years, certain posts have had real staying power over the years. Many of these are sermons that desperate preachers found on search engines.

So here are my 10 all-time most popular posts since I started “When I Survey . . .” way back in 2009, also listed by popularity:

Why did Jesus refer to Herod as “That fox” in Luke 13:32?

Prayer for a Retired Pastor

“Rejoice! Rejoice!” A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Advent

“God Gives the Growth:” A Retirement Sermon

“The Lord Will Provide:” A Sermon on Genesis 22

“There is nothing to be afraid of!” A Sermon on Psalm 27:1-2

An Ordination Sermon: The Secret Sauce of Ministry. A Recipe in Two Parts

“God With Us” A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

“Behind Locked Doors” A Sermon on John 20:24

“The Message of the Cross” A Sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:23-25

(My header picture is the view of the marsh behind my house from my back porch. I change it with the changing seasons. R.L. Floyd, 2018)

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“Unexpected Miracles” A Sermon on Isaiah 43: 16-21

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Last spring, when your pastors Bruce and Barb invited me to come be with you I didn’t realize that I would be with you on a momentous day. For today is the 100th anniversary of the Armistice that ended The First World War on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. So before this service is over we will have reached that centenary. Continue reading →

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“How to be a Neighbor” A Devotion on Luke 10: 29

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“But wanting to justify himself, the lawyer asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
—Luke 10:29

The lawyer in The Parable of the Good Samaritan tried to trick Jesus so he asked him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered by the Book: love God and love your neighbor. But the lawyer sought a loophole: “And who is my neighbor?” What he really wanted to know was “who is not my neighbor?” Continue reading →

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“For Free!” A Devotion on Ephesians 2: 8, 9

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“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast.” —Ephesians 2: 8, 9

Do we take for granted those things in life that come to us for free? Since our society tends to commercialize everything, it becomes easy to value only that which we paid for or worked for. Continue reading →

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“The Elusive Presence” A Devotion on James 4:8

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“Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.”—James 4:8

James makes knowing God sound easy, but I’ve never found it so. When I was a young man, and had outgrown my Sunday school faith, I hungered to know God, not just as an idea, but as a living relationship. Continue reading →

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“Signs of God’s Reign” A Devotion on Matthew 15: 30,31.

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“Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” —Matthew 15:30,31.

When the early church heard about the healings that Jesus had done they understood them as signs that the long awaited reign of God had begun in him. Continue reading →

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“No Doubts? I Doubt it!” A Devotion on James 1: 5-8

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“If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.” —James 1:5-8 Continue reading →

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“God’s Righteousness and Ours” A Devotion on Psalm 111:2-3

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“Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them. Full of honor and majesty is God’s work, and God’s righteousness endures forever.”—Psalm 111:2-3

The concept of “righteousness” was important to Ancient Israel’s self-understanding of their covenant with God. The Hebrew word usually translated as righteousness could also mean integrity, justice, prosperity or wholeness. Righteousness was both an attribute belonging to God, and the order of things that God put into place for the well being of Israel. Continue reading →