Here are a few of my talks...
Click the underlined titles to see the complete sermon or talk. |
- Larry Weiss |
Opening Romans (version with slides)
Paul's Letter to the Romans is the foundation text of the Christian religion and profoundly influenced Christian theologians from Augustine to Luther. The Letter to the Romans addresses the question, "What exactly is this new religion, Christianity, and what must I do to be a Christian." Our Adult Bible Study recently studied Romans for ten weeks. This is a short and I hope thought-provoking "Opening of Paul's Letter to the Romans."
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 20, 2011
Meat, Not Milk - Sermon July 31, 2011
Our Bible teaches us at four different levels. The first level tells the story, this is what happened. This is the core of what we teach our younger children in Sunday School. Sermons, like this one, are drawn from the second level, the teaching level. At the third level are hints, connections and glimpses that let us peek under the tent of heaven. The fourth level, exploration of these hints and glimpses leads to spiritual discernment, to wisdom.
There is a fifth level, a Mystery level completely inaccessible by our reasoning minds. It is food for our soul and spirit. This mystery level is beyond our conscious awareness, but it is always active at every level of study, from the time we hear our first Bible story as children until the last Psalm is read at our funeral.
Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, July 31, 2011
The Seder is a holiday meal during which the Jewish family recounts and relives the events of Exodus. It is a story of freedom from bondage. The Seder is more than a history lesson. It is a personal re-experiencing of what it means to be in bondage and how we personally can be set free. And by who's power it is that we are freed. We recount the meal and its unusual foods and what it means for Christians today.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, March 20, 2011
Our User Manual - Sermon February 13, 2011
We have a handy User Manual for operating the human being. Our Bible. We start with simple stories as children. We see the great truths as adults. We keep on reading our User Manual every day and let the Holy Spirit use it to slowly teach our spirit. The truths and wisdom become inscribed on our hearts as we live as Christians and grow older in body and wiser in spirit. And the good news is this. Your spiritual growth will continue until and past the day you leave your physical body behind. Our User Manual will have done its job.
Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, February 13, 2011
On Fire? Or Retire? - Sermon November 7, 2010
It's easy to "be a believer", call ourselves Christian and show up in Church. But, are we retired? Or are we on fire? The New Testament has lessons for us as we look at who the Pharisees were, who the Sadducees were, and reflect on who we are.
Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 7, 2010
What Is Jesus? - Sermon August 8, 2010
We each have a spiritual nature tank and a human nature tank. We have to switch tanks and open the valve on the divine tank so it can be filled. God is continuously pouring his gifts and graces on us, eager for us to accept them. But our spiritual valve is often shut tight while we continue to stuff our human nature.
Jesus came to us with both tanks full. 100% human, 100% divine. Yes, 200%. Yes, this is a mystery. A mystery, but real.
Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, August 8, 2010
Compassion Meditation - Sermon June 20, 2010
Jesus taught us forgiveness is the key to the Kingdom of Heaven. We cannot love until we can forgive. Forgiving the "unforgiveable" is not easy. Forgiveness is not absolution or approval. Forgiveness of others is a way to release yourself from the power the perpetrator still has over you. And, we will find we experience forgiveness of ourselves as well.
How do we do it? Here is a practical exercise to teach us how to forgive. This second part of a four part course in practical spiritual exercises lent itself to a sermon on Father's Day, 2010. The course is based on teaching by Fr. William Meninger, OCSO, a monk in residence at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Co., and one of the founders of the Centering Prayer movement.
Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, June 20, 2010
Short Courses in Practical Spirituality - Lectio Divina, or Divine Reading
This is part 1 of a four part course in practical spiritual exercises. These are tools you can use yourself in your daily life. These spiritual exercises are designed to help you deepen your prayer life and improve your life. These are very old practices, all of which are used in the Christian tradition. Several are also used in other spiritual traditions.
Our emphasis is on "practical". This is not about theology or ideas about God. It is about using tools, or exercises, thoughtful humans have developed over the centuries to improve their lives. They will be helpful to you.
Jesus stressed forgiveness. Before scientific and technical jargon existed, Jesus taught the science and "how-to's" of forgiveness in simple parables his audience of fishermen and farmers could understand.
You will be forgiven as you have forgiven.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 15, 2009
The Highest Common Denominator
Our friend Gustav Niebhur urges us to move beyond tolerance in his latest book Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America. Let's pick up on this idea. Our discussion will explore the idea that we can create a powerful sense of community with other religious traditions by looking for our highest common denominator rather than the lowest common denominator. What is it? The goal of cultivating our relationship with God.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, April 26, 2009
Simplistic interpretations of Jewish and Christian scriptures can be distorted to call for crusades and triumphalist versions of Christianity that Jesus would have wept to see. So, before condemning the misuse of The Quran by Islamic fundamentalists and legalists, consider the beam in our own eyes.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 16, 2008
Football, Faith and Super-strings – Ten Dimensional Football
A brief easy to understand discussion of the idea of ten physical dimensions using Football as the example. And an exploration of the harmony between science and faith.
Article for The Sporting Times, Autumn, 2008
Crushing Your Opposition: The Hidden Music and Meaning of Psalms
Everybody has enemies. Do you ever wonder why popular sitting Presidents do stupid things and discredit their office or are forced to resign; or a Governor acts stupidly and has to step down at the height of his powers? Or a popular honor student athlete suddenly takes his own life? It could be some kind of enemy opposition attacking and tearing us down - just when everything seems to be going so well. We'll explore this.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles April 13, 2008
Science
and Religion: 10 Dimensional Christianity
Where do Science and Religion meet? Maybe in the String Theory
view of ten dimensions, perhaps eleven. Religion has been teaching
in all ten dimensions for two millenia. Science is having trouble with
four, but it will learn and advance. Time for a new Philosophy
of Science.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November
18, 2007
Equity, the Seventh Dimension
String Theory claims there are ten or even eleven dimensions, not just
our familiar four. What are they? Where do Science and Religion intersect?
Let's look at Equity, the seventh dimension. A brief sketch of what these
dimensions might be.
Jesus' teaches full Ten Dimensional Christianity.
Substituting for
the minister. Sermon at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles September
30, 2007
Church,
State and Babel
Is there one, true church on earth? Why has God allowed the proliferation
of churches, mosques, temples, synagogues and meetings - all in His Name?
Why don't we all agree on the
One True Church here on Earth? Is the presence of many ways of worship
part of the plan to keep humans from constructing another Tower of Babel?
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, April 15, 2007
Icons
and Iconoclasm - Why no picture windows in the Presbyterian
church
An illustrated talk on the role of icons in the church,
and why certain protestant denominations limit iconography even in
their stained glass windows.
What is the mystery of the "A&C" in the central window?
Calvin and Arminius? Predestination and Free Will? How do you "read" an
icon? Let's read the Rubilev Holy Trinity icon.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 2006
Other Mansions?
Can non-Christians
get to heaven? How about pious, believing Buddhists, Jews, Sufis? Do
all Christians get to heaven? Are Faith and Religion the same thing?
Exactly what is Love anyway?
First Presbyterian
Church of Skaneateles, April 23, 2006
The Gift of Giving
Giving is for the giver, not the recipient. Provocative thought? Here
is a Christian view of giving, and an introduction to The Cross of David.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 20, 2005
Modern Heresies
Many recent Original
Theological Thinkers aren't that original. Well-intentioned
minds have struggled to make God in the image they think best for him since
the first century. People keep looking for an easy to digest explanation
of the mystery of Yeshua as fully human and fully
divine. Let's look at some modern heresies.
First Presbyterian Church
of Skaneateles, April 24, 2005
Conflict
Between Old Testament and New Testament
People often feel
God is very different in the Old Testament compared to his manifestation
as The Christ in the New Testament.
1. Is God different in the New and Old Testament?
2. If not, why does it seem so?
3. Is the God of the Old Testament the God of the Jews only?
4. Is the God of the NT the God of everyone except the Jews?
First Presbyterian Church
of Skaneateles, November 18, 2004
Changing
the Shepherd's Mind
Abraham demonstrates virtuous nagging. Jesus teaches persistance and
simplicity in prayer.
Substituting for the minister. Sermon preached at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles. July 25, 2004.
The Lost Gospels
Who
lost them? Were they supressed? Are they better understandings of Christ's
message? Has the Vatican kept a lid on writings they didn't want the
world to see?
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, April 30, 2004
Why is Paul, this contradictory, garrulous, cranky misogynist, so important to us today?
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, Nov.21, 2003
Abraham,
Father of Multitudes
Abraham is the father of Christians, Muslims and Jews, and perhaps Hindus
and Buddhists. Some less-well-known traditional history of Abraham, the
first evangelist of monotheism.
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles, April, 2003
UNDEROOS Ethics
The minister asked if I had ever brought a business ethics conflict
to a clergyman. He was forming views on the role of the church in teaching
business ethics. I have a point of view; teach Jesus, not rules.
Letter to the minister, December 2002
The
Religion of Buddhism
Buddhism as both a better way of living and a Religion. Comparisons
with Christianity.
First Presbyterian Church
of Skaneateles, Nov. 24, 2002
Amazing
personal prayer experiences at silent retreats
These messages were for me, but here's a call to explore your own "interior
silence," and perhaps hear messages meant for you.
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles, April 2002
Islam-Our
Younger Brothers in the Faith
Are we at war with Islam? What is Islam anyway? How does Islam relate
to Judaism and Christianity?
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles, Nov. 2001
Knights Templar and the Islamic Crusades
Who were The Crusading Knights who led the first Western incursion into
the Middle East? All sides invoked God then as now. A pre-9/11 perspective.
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles, April, 2001
A
Jew's Perspective on Christianity
How a Christian Jew began his personal transformation.
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles
The fourth way of praying. The method of Centering Prayer as taught by Contemplative Outreach and Fr. Thomas Keating OCSO
First
Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, April 1999
Be not afraid! That's the first message of Christmas.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles
Fr.
Thomas Keating on "The Inner Room", advanced retreat conferences
Father Keating gave four conferences on Centering Prayer and Contemplation
at the advanced retreat at St. Benedict's Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado
November, 2000. These are raw notes from four exciting conferences on "The
Inner Room."
Retreat Center, St. Benedict's Monastery, Snowmass CO November 2000
Meaning
of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The writers of The Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran illustrate pre-Christian
Jewish thought and belief patterns. The people at Qumran were probably
a splinter group of Sadduccees.
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, November 2000
Who
Wrote the Bible?
The Holy Spirit is the Ultimate Author. Jews were the transcribers. But
how did the Canon get selected?
First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, April 2000
Lakeside
Soul Food
The Miracle of loaves and fishes. You are what you eat!
Sermon at First Presbyterian
Church of Skaneateles, July 30, 2000
Hell
and The Devil
What is Hell and who is the Devil? Where do these ideas come from?
First Presbyterian Church
of Skaneateles, April 1996
Jews
and Christians on Death
What does Jesus have to say about death to his Jewish friends? Reflections
on the best-selling book, Breakfast With Maury.
First Presbyterian Church of
Skaneateles, November 1999
Letter
to the First Church of Rome
Today's version of how Paul might follow up his Letter to the Romans. Reflections on a topic close to my heart. A message that needs to be sent
again to those who wish to roll back Vatican ll. Jews are important to Christianity.
The War of the Bros
Christianity has been
in a stupid civil war with its Jewish brothers for 1,930 years. Vatican
II declared it over. Not all the troops in the field have the message.
An essay on the relationship of Christians and Jews, how it got that way
and why it will change. Here's how I became a Christian and am still a
Jew.
String
Theory and the Ten Dimensions
String Theory generally holds there are Ten or Eleven Dimensions
in all. This is a beginning exploration, a thought experiment on the
concept of more dimensions than the three or four we understand intuitively.
What are they?
