by Guy Sayles | Jun 30, 2014 |
Imagine how you would feel if, at the end of worship, the minister asked you to receive a benediction which began like this: May all your expectations be frustrated....
by Guy Sayles | Jun 16, 2014 |
Day by day, in the decisions we make and the actions we take, we are choosing whether to live in the desert of division or in the promised land of peace; in the wilderness of exclusion or the paradise of acceptance; in the far country of fear or the home of...
by Guy Sayles | Jun 13, 2014 |
Walking around downtown this past Monday night, a cool breeze freshening the air and the approach of sunset causing a dance of light and shadow around the buildings, I had a brief conversation with a group of street musicians who were moving from one “stand”—one high...
by Guy Sayles | Jun 9, 2014 |
Someone once asked the brilliant African-American preacher Gardner Taylor how many points a sermon should have. He said, “At least one.” As I understand it now, at age 57, having preached hundreds of sermons across thirty years, I really only have one...
by Guy Sayles | Jun 2, 2014 |
The wonderful twentieth century story-teller Isaac Bashevis Singer once admitted: “I only pray when I am in trouble. But I am in trouble all the time, and I pray all the time.” Even when we need to pray, because of the trouble we’re in, or when we want to...
by Guy Sayles | May 26, 2014 |
Prompted by a phrase in the New Testament (1 Peter 3:16), I’ve been pondering the vital importance of reverence and gentleness. Reverence is about acknowledging our limits. I don’t know everything and can’t do everything. Sometimes, I am wrong about...
by Guy Sayles | May 18, 2014 |
Some of you asked about the prayer for mercy which was part of my sermon today. Here it is; I hope you will find it helpful. O God, remind me always that my life is your gift, and that I live under, and rest in, your Mercy. Gone forever is my once-proud...
by Guy Sayles | May 14, 2014 |
French poet Paul Eluard said: “There is another world, but it is in this one.” Late one afternoon last week, after a long walk around town, I sat for a while on a bench near the courthouse in City-County Plaza. Almost directly in front of me, on the stone-paved...
by Guy Sayles | May 6, 2014 |
Here is the Call to Stewardship from this past Sunday. Some of you had asked to see it again: Commodities, things, labor, experiences and gifts all have cost, price, value, and worth. Cost is the amount of money it takes to plant and harvest, mine,...
by Guy Sayles | Apr 22, 2014 |
Not long after I came to Asheville, the Republican Men’s Club of Buncombe County invited me to their breakfast meeting to tell them about myself and my hopes for our church’s future. It’s not my practice to speak at meetings, formal or informal, of political...
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