Remarks at Run Walk Nashville Pedestrian Memorial Service 2/22/25 Hello, I’m Paul Purdue. I’m the Pastor at Belmont United Methodist Church in Hillsborough Village. When Wesley asked me if I could speak at the memorial. I was happy to do so because on July 1 of this year my brother was involved in a bicycle […]
Author Archives: paulrpurdue
Not everyone standing there listening to Jesus was a disciple. Some came for healing of physical and mental illnesses. The crowd pressed in, wanting something from Jesus. “Everyone was trying to touch Jesus” because healing power flowed through Jesus. Some came to hear a good storyteller or maybe see a miracle. With our TV’s, cellphones […]
First Corinthians 13 may be my favorite passage in the whole Bible. By Monday I had the beginnings of three good sermons that stretched out 12 pages, one had a great funny opening story. None of them seemed adequate for our national moment that Bishop Tracy S. Malone, President – Council of Bishops of The […]
The Bible begins with a beautiful creation liturgy, followed by a creation story, a flood story and a tower story. Genesis 2-11 just reads differently than the rest of the Bible. Scholars say that the historical portion of the Bible begins in Genesis 12 where God calls Abraham and Sarah. Jesus spoke of “the God […]
It would be a truly terrible idea, to open up the Biblical canon for another book or two, but if we did, I would nominate Martin Luther King’s 1963 Epistle written inside a Birmingham jail. It is widely quoted, about the length of First and Second Corinthians, and deeply Christian. Dr King like Paul was […]
I read a story about a Detroit Lions fan who got invited onto the field to help stretch out a massive American flag before the game. On the very field where his beloved Lions played, the fan began to taunt Matt LaFleur, Green Bay Packers’ coach. When LaFleur spoke to the fan, the fan grew […]
Today, we are hearing the Word of God proclaimed in songs, poems, liturgy and hymns. Music and art move us into the parts of truth that resist scientific explanations or historical reductionism. Some of our deepest human values defy: peace, joy, love, respect, unity, hope, awe, wonder, beauty, belonging, compassion, contentment, friendship, fairness, and justice. […]
By beginning, “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed,” Luke highlighted the power of the occupying Empire to inconvenience not just Mary and Joseph but the whole world. Historians note that “Quirinius” stretches the historicity of Luke’s timeline, but a particularly cruel governor, Quirinius” remind […]
When one of our good friends was expecting her second child, her three year old had a lot of questions. Three year-olds remind us that questions open the door to knowledge. Do we use the word “expecting” to describe pregnancy because we do not know what the future holds? Will the baby sleep, will we […]
Have you ever had a moment so holy, so beautiful and good, that you couldn’t find your words? Some volunteer priests served their whole lives and never got the chance to lead worship in the Temple, but the lot fell to Zechariah. As the sun set, Zechariah put on the lavish priestly vestments, stepped behind […]
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