Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

The Challenge of Isaiah Sermon, January 29, 2011 Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel Isaiah 61:1-4 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed,
    to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and release to the prisoners; 
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn; 
to provide for those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, to display his glory. 
They shall build up the ancient ruins,
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations. One week ago Saturday, a group of over 20 people gathered in the Fireside Room to engage in an extr

"The Long Arc of Justice: Part 2" Sermon, January 22, 2012 Rev. Dr. Craig Strobel Isaiah 58:1-9 Shout out, do not hold back!
   Lift up your voice like a trumpet!
Announce to my people their rebellion,
   to the house of Jacob their sins. 
Yet day after day they seek me
   and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that practised righteousness
   and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgements,
   they delight to draw near to God. 
‘Why do we fast, but you do not see?
   Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’
Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day,
   and oppress all your workers. 
Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
   and to strike with a wicked fist.
Such fasting as you do today
   will not make your voice heard on high. 
Is such the fast that I choose,
   a day to humble oneself?
Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
   and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?
Will you call this a fast,
 

Sunday, January 15, 2011 Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel “Free at Last” – I’m going to begin this morning where Dr. King ended in his famous speech on August 28, 1963 outside of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. James Cone in his book, The Spirituals and the Blues , points out that many spirituals have double meanings – one is spiritual but also a particular political or material meaning, which was often the hidden or coded meaning. E.g. today’s hymns: “Over My Head” – “I see trouble in the air – there must be a God some where.” Or, “Wade in the Water” – “God’s gonna trouble the water.” Reminds one of the story of the Pool of Siloam in Jesus’ time, where people with afflictions and ailments waited for an angel to “trouble the water.” The first person in the pool after it was troubled would be healed. Notice carefully that word “trouble.” When God troubles the water, healing occurs. Recognition that this is often how God operates in est

Sermon, January 8, 2012 Second Sunday After Christmas Rev. Dr. Craig S. Strobel Matthew 2:13-18  Now after the magi had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son.’  When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, he was infuriated, and he sent and killed all the children in and around Bethlehem who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had learned from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: 
‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
   wailing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
   she ref