Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

Preached by Winton Boyd on Sunday, August 12
Matthew 13 (see end of sermon for text)

As a parent of three teenage children, I have a special place in my heart for parents of three young children. In the vast reservoir of memories over the last 20 years, one of the most poignant is the shift from two young children to three, all under the age of 5. Tammy and I always thought we would like more than two children, and yet the shift from two to three was one of the hardest transitions of our lives. It was then that I learned the true meaning of the word exponential. The chaos, work, sleep deprivation and relational interactions – at least for us – were vastly, exponentially, more complicated with 3 children than with 2. It wasn’t a reflection on the personality or demands of the third child - but the impact of adding just one person - no matter who it was. It was a classic case, literally, of too much of a good thing. It was an amazing experience of knowing that the thing we had waited for for years was both beautiful and amazingly out of our control.

It is this exponentially growing chaos, my spiritual director would tell me at the time, that will teach me about faith. Continue Reading »

Preached on August 5, 2007 by Winton Boyd
Mark 6:30-44 (see text at end of sermon)
Winton Boyd

As I was driving one of my children around yesterday, they asked what I was preaching about. When I responded I was preaching on the story of the loaves and fishes and the attitude of abundance verses the attitude of scarcity, they responded – “I have no idea what you are talking about, I’ll just have to listen tomorrow.”

I then recounted the regular and predictable conversation in our household over whether or not we have any cereal in the cupboard or not. If we have recently gone shopping, there may be 6-10 boxes of various kinds of cereal, mostly unopened. If we have not recently gone shopping, there may be 4-6 boxes of cereal partially eaten.

For some people, like my children’s grandfather, 6-10 boxes are not only enough, but they provide too many choices. For others, like my college friend Frank, 4-6 boxes of cereal is heaven. As one who loved to mix and match cereal, this would multiple combinations. For others, 4-6 boxes of partially eaten cereal means they have tried everything, have not been enthusiastic, and therefore what they see is “nothing”. In our house, we have realized, of course, is that arguing whether or not there is cereal has little to do with the facts, and mostly to do with perspective. Continue Reading »