Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | May 29, 2022 John 14: 1-7 In Glasgow, Scotland there’s a museum called “The People’s Palace.” The People’s Palace is a museum of the life, history and culture of the city. There’s one part where visitors can go into a World War 2 bomb shelter. Inside the…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | May 22, 2022 Why do the innocent suffer? Why do some people seem to have more than their fair share of suffering? Why doesn’t God do something about it? Does God even care? Why believe in a God who allows human suffering? One writer of Scripture said…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | May 15, 2022 1st John 4:7-21 People would often show up at the front door for different reasons. The church manse was a mile away from the church building, but a world away in social terms. Whereas the church building was in a gritty “urban priority area,”…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | May 8, 2022 Proverbs 31:10-31 One time I conducted a funeral for a woman in the church and I used the Proverbs passage describing a “capable wife” as the basis for my tribute. According to how her children described her. Or at least the ones who met…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | May 1, 2022 John 21:1-19 Sometimes life presents us with a “Now What?” moment. Something changes for good or ill and we have to decide how to cope with change. These changes can hit us hard, or they can be something we know about and plan for….

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | April 24, 2022 John 20:19-31 My old friend Thomas came knocking at the door this week. He comes around every year during the week following Easter. While the chords of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” still echo in my mind, Thomas shows up and reminds me, “If…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | April 17, 2022 Luke 24:1-12 | Easter Sunday The story is told that after Jesus died his body was placed in a tomb. He was as dead as dead ever is. It was as if a shadow fell across the soul of humankind – that if even…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | April 10, 2022 Palm Sunday Once upon a time, a long time ago there was a girl whose name was Miriam. Miriam was 10 years old and she lived with her mother and father and her three older brothers in a small village called “Bethphage.” Bethphage is…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | April 3, 2022 Luke 15:11-32 When you are a young child and you put a seashell to your ear, and someone tells you that the sound you hear is the roar of the ocean you think how amazing that is. You wonder at the mystery of how…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | March 27, 2022 Luke 15:1-10 It was a warm summer day in Clarion, Iowa. My children were at the town swimming pool cooling off. I was tending to my work in the church office. In those days I was a member of the local fire department. We…