Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | October 29, 2023 Matthew 22:32-40 When I lived in Clarion Iowa, we owned a cat, Tiggy. I’m allergic to cats, so I’m not much of a cat person. It was more like Tiggy and I lived in the same house. Tiggy was neutered and sometimes he would…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | October 22, 2023 Matthew 22:15-22 The other day I was at the dentist’s office for a routine check-up. The dental hygienist was someone I had not met before and as I settled into the chair, she asked a routine question, “So what sort of work do you…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | October 15, 2023 Matthew 22:1-14 One Sunday morning I arrived at church. People were starting to show up. Sitting in the sanctuary was a girl of about six years old. Her mother had been dropping her off to attend Sunday School. For the purposes of our story…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | October 8, 2023 John 8:2-11 A friend once told me about a worship service he attended in the church where he grew up. It was a communion service. The elders of the church were passing out the communion bread. They went from pew to pew passing the…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | October 1, 2023 Matthew 21:23-32 One time I was in a meeting of the church elders when one of them said to me, “You’re the captain of this ship, so it’s your job to steer it.” There’s an interesting image – a ship’s captain. The captain of…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | September 24, 2023 Exodus 16:2-15 & Matthew 20:1-16 One of the basic lessons of life that we learn along the journey is that Life Is Not Fair. The problem we have with this lesson is that we think life should be fair. Not only is life not…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | September 17, 2023 Matthew 18:21-35 I visited a religious education class at the high school in my parish. We were talking about the nature of God. One question was whether there is anything God cannot or will not forgive. Can someone be so evil as to be…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | September 3, 2023 Matthew 16:21-28 How long does it take to write a sermon? I ponder that question every Monday morning when I sit down in front of my computer. It’s like asking, how long is a piece of string? The answer being, it depends. In one…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | August 27, 2023 Matthew 16:13-20 Two workers were fixing a garden wall at the church manse that had been damaged in a storm. I checked on their progress during the day. Out of the blue, one guy said to me, “I don’t believe in God.” I thought,…

Sermon by Reverend Dr. John W. Mann | August 20, 2023 Matthew 15:21-28 One time I served as the “Interim Moderator” for a church in Glasgow. Ibrox Parish Church. One of my roles was to act as a gatekeeper in the search for a new pastor. Ministers interested in the church would send me their…