Authors /
Nanette Sawyer
Nanette Sawyer is associate pastor for discipleship and small group ministry at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago.
What we cut off (Mark 9:38–50)
Maybe the shock of Jesus’ words is the point.
September 24, 2021
A woman of justice (Proverbs 31:10-31)
What does it mean to fear the Lord?
September 17, 2021
September 26, Ordinary 26B (James 5:13–20)
I regularly pray for things that are unlikely to come about quickly, if at all.
August 30, 2021
September 19, Ordinary 25B (Proverbs 31:10–31)
Does a good woman give and give and give without thought to her own well-being?
August 23, 2021
Blogging Toward Wednesday: How I learned to love mercy
In my younger, decidedly anti-Christian days, I did not like the way Christians asked God for mercy. It reinforced my idea that “the Christian God” was cruel and punishing. After all, if God was a loving and compassionate God, one would not have to beg for mercy. And if God was cruel and punishing but at the same time righteous and just, then human beings were clearly bad and unworthy.
This whole system of thought—shameful people and cruel God—made me want to stay far, far away from Christianity and Christian churches.
February 12, 2015
Transformed
I love a good mountaintop experience. It’s a moment when everything changes. Insight flares up in the mind, illuminating the moment, the experience, the problem in a whole new way. You’re never quite the same again.
One such moment for me happened in prayer when I was on a three-day silent retreat.
February 8, 2015
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 | Ash Wednesday: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21; 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10
As we contemplate mortality and finitude, I wonder if we could treasure washing the dishes.
February 5, 2015
Sunday, February 15, 2015 | Transfiguration Sunday: Mark 9:2-9
Let’s build shrines, Peter says. He doesn’t know how to respond to a mystical mountaintop experience, and he’s afraid.
February 3, 2015
Conflicting beliefs
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus heals many sick people and casts out many demons. I’ve been thinking about healing a lot lately.
February 1, 2015
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Sunday, February 8, 2015: Mark 1:29-39
If you’re Jesus, demons will interrupt your mission of proclaiming the message of transformation and hope—even if they have to tell the truth to do it.
January 27, 2015
Urban experiments: Ministry in the 21st century
"I've been given an opportunity to color outside the lines," says Nanette Sawyer of Grace Commons and St James Presbyterian Church in Chicago, "the permission and charge to be creative and experimental."
January 11, 2013
Some angles on the binding of Isaac
Violence. Danger. Fear. Trust. Betrayal. Salvation. Ethics. They're all invoked in the story of the binding of Isaac. Here are a couple different points of entry into this difficult passage.
June 20, 2011
God in spirit
In my church we've been exploring the idea that God is fully present in each person of the Trinity. Recently our focus has been on the Holy Spirit. On Trinity Sunday, a week after Pentecost, it might be fruitful to consider the implications of this full presence of God in the Spirit.
June 13, 2011