Author Archives: J. Michael Smith

OASIS: March 9, 2025 (Lent 1)

Posted on March 9, 2025 by J. Michael Smith

Welcome Song: Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days Scripture and a Good Word: Genesis 3: 1-7; Denying Death Song: Abide with Me Benediction Song: All Praise to Thee, My God This Night BIBLE STUDY Genesis 3: Deep Dive Contextualizing and … Continue reading →

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OASIS March 2, 2025: A Time to Fight

Posted on March 2, 2025 by J. Michael Smith

Welcome Hymn: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God The Good Word: A Time to Fight Hymn: Onward Christian Soldiers Benediction The Bible Study of Psalm 18 and the Text of the Sermon (A Time to Fight) Psalm 18: Contextualizing and … Continue reading →

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Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1-9)

Posted on February 9, 2025 by J. Michael Smith

Soaking in the Biblical Text:  Genesis 11 The Obvious Genesis 11 is obviously composed of three parts:  an anecdote about the Tower of Babel, a genealogy—mostly about men who begat other men, and a detailed introduction to Abraham’s family—who is named “Abram” … Continue reading →

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Looking Like I’ll Turn 70

Posted on July 7, 2024 by J. Michael Smith

It looks like I’m going to make it to my seventieth birthday—if I can dodge bullets, asteroids, car accidents, heart attacks, explosions, and falling off the Sears Building—for just six more days.  Just to be sure I make it, I’m also … Continue reading →

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60

Posted on July 7, 2024 by J. Michael Smith

60–The Sermon Urbana Grace UMC, July 13, 2014 Sometime while sleeping last night, I completed my sixtieth loop around the sun. Being sixty is simply a matter of going in circles: big circles…60 of them. Like everyone else, I’ve been … Continue reading →

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THE SECRET TO REDUCING OUR ANXIETIES

Posted on June 23, 2024 by J. Michael Smith

There were these two sisters.  One was heavy with anxiety.  But the other used wisdom to make her worries bearable.  The afflicted one was named Martha; the more liberated named Mary.   Poor Martha.  I’ve known her in a thousand parishioners during my ministry.  In the … Continue reading →

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Utah National Parks

Posted on June 2, 2024 by J. Michael Smith

My first visit to Utah was in 1994, on a family trip to California when Mindy and Alison were 12 and 10. Driving west from Illinois—through Colorado, across the Rockies, and into Utah—it seemed the strangest place I’d ever set … Continue reading →

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Aging and Spirituality Bibliography

Posted on March 16, 2016 by J. Michael Smith

Richard Rohr, Falling Upward:  A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life Kimble, et al, Aging, Spirituality, and Religion:  A Handbook  (2 Volumes) Koenig, Harold G. and Weaver, Andrew J., Counseling Troubled Older Adults:  A Handbook for Pastors and Religious Caregivers Koenig, Harold … Continue reading →

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It Once Was Lost but Now Is Found

Posted on January 24, 2016 by J. Michael Smith

The Sunday Post I have a dozen boxes of “stuff” in my garage belonging to my 3 daughters:  filled with papers, books, art projects, stuffed animals, souvenirs, photos, diaries, knick-knacks, and what-nots.  I’d really like for them to take all … Continue reading →

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