Natalie's Grace Notes

  Friends, today we’re up to the third of five weeks of this sermon series I’ve put together based on a book called Half Truths by a Methodist Pastor named Adam Hamilton. In this book, Hamilton has us look at five different Christian cliches. Phrases we say a lot, especially in times of grief, that many of us think are in the Bible, that aren’t, at least not the way we rattle them off. This week, we’re looking at the phrase “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” Now, to the credit of those of us who have said this phrase, either while we were going through a hard time, or to console a loved one who was struggling, this sentence is in the Bible…but only kinda sorta. We’ve changed the words, and, in so doing, significantly changed the original intent. The closest version of “God won’t give you more than you can handle” can be found in 1 Corinthians 10: 13: “ No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond...

  Friends, we’re now in part 2 of 5 of a sermon series that I’m basing on a book called Half Truths , written by a Methodist pastor named Adam Hamilton. In this book, Hamilton has us look at five Christian cliches that serve a purpose, and can help in limited doses, but that also tend to do harm. This week we’re looking at “God helps those who help themselves”. Of the five cliches Adam explores in the book, this is the one that folks are most certain must be in the Bible somewhere. A study done in the early aughts by the Barna Group revealed that most folks on the street–8 in 10–think this phrase is in the Bible, and many swear it’s one of the Ten Commandments. When pressed further on where in the Bible this phrase must be, respondents to that Barna Group study said “uh…did Jesus say it?” Even when respondents had no idea where in the Bible this phrase shows up, they still insisted it was very important to Christian faith. You gotta pull yourself up by your own bootstraps, right? I...

  Friends, today I’m starting a new sermon series, where I’ll be drawing from a book titled Half Truths by an author named Adam Hamilton. Adam is a fellow United Methodist minister, the senior pastor of the Church of the Resurrection is Leawood, Kansas. He’s very active in the American Methodist scene, and it’s likely you’ve heard his name or seen his face before, either on social media, or at General Conference, where he’s been a delegate every session since the year 2000. He’s also a prolific author, and one of his specialties has been writing books that can be easily used to support a church book group or a sermon series, like this one. In Half Truths , Adam takes a look at five different Christian cliches. Some folks think these phrases are in the Bible, and I can assure you, none of them are. We tend to spout these phrases in times of grief, and they can be useful to a point, but they quickly become personally and theologically problematic, at best, and at worst, they can do ...

  Friends, you’ve made it! It’s the final Sunday of Stump the Preacher 2025, sermons requested by you and then researched and delivered by me. A few of you put ideas in the proverbial hat that are already in the lineup for Stump the Preacher 2026! For today, the finale of Stump the Preacher, season 2025, we get Andy’s request: this question about what faith is, what doubt is, what certainty is, and which of those things I have. Well, here goes nothing. But first, an old story, about some teacher at a college somewhere, beginning a lecture in a business class by putting a large jar on a table. He took out a bag of big rocks, and dropped them in the jar one by one until they reached the top. He asked the class, “is this jar full now?” The class nodded, but the professor said “no, it isn’t!” Then he took out a bag of gravel, and poured the gravel in the jar until the gravel filled in all the cracks between the big rocks, and reached the top of the jar. The professor asked the class, “...