Sermons
Love and Joy – John 15: 9-15
There is an interesting phenomenon in church life that has its foundation in goodness but tends to get skewed toward moral obligation. This concept of serving others to the point of being burned out. The underlying belief goes something like this. As long as I serve others, by constantly giving of myself, I will be a good Christian. And if I am a good Christian, I will have a sense of belonging and be known as a dedicated hard worker. I will work my way to a sense of worthiness.
Love Letters – Song of Songs 2: 1-17
Attics and basements are amazing places. They are like our personal museums. I like exploring mine every once in a while. It is like taking a trip down memory lane. Stored amid the dust and cobwebs we can find our buried treasures and recover part of our past. Among my treasures in our basement which is actually a crawl space is a box filled to the brim with letters and audio tapes Jeff and I sent to each other about 40 years ago while he was studying for a year in Austria, and I was working as a teacher in Ohio.
1 Samuel 3: 1-10
About 25 years ago I took my first in-depth personal growth course called “The Wall”. “The Wall” referred to the fears in our life that prevent us from moving forward, taking that next step, that next risk.
Phillip and the Ethiopian – Acts 8: 26-40
If I were going to make a movie of the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian, I would begin with an image of a vast desert landscape with shimmering heat rising from the sand in the scorching midday sun.
Mark 6: 1-13
When I was a little girl with a very active imagination, I was afraid to go upstairs to my bedroom alone at night. I had visions of tiny witches flying around my bed casting spells and alligators hiding underneath it – just waiting to eat my feet. It didn’t help matters, that my older brother loved to jump out from behind my door to scare me.
Learning to Walk in the Dark
Our scripture readings this week beg the question. Do wombs and tombs have anything in common other than their spellings? Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor says in her book, Learning to Walk in the Dark: “…new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”
Easter 2024 – Acts 10: 34-43
Amazing isn’t it that we are here today celebrating Easter as part of a spiritual movement that began over 2,000 years ago with a mystic rabbi named Jesus who walked the earth, died a shameful death on the cross and then rose again.
Easter 2023 – Love Wins
We left last week with two forces converging in Jerusalem during the week of Passover. Pilate’s show of force at the West Gate of the city representing the Kingdom of Caesar- a reign of terror that dominated people politically, economically, through the use of religion. Since Caesar is the son of God whatever Caesar says is God’s will. This autocratic repression kept a lid on any kind of movement toward liberation and justice.
The Transfiguration: Mark 9: 2-9
Have you ever had any aha moments that were life changing for you? That cause you to see yourself and the world differently and were so revealing that you lived your life differently afterwards? I am not necessarily talking about being struck by lightning or actually hearing the voice of God as clearly as you can hear mine, but moments in which something finally made sense to you and filled you with light?
Palm Sunday
If I were going to direct a movie about Jesus’ last week on earth, it would begin with a sweeping view of the city of Jerusalem – the sacred center of the Jewish world. The camara would focus in on the Temple – God’s dwelling place and would then probably pan to a statue of King David – the beloved King of the Jews 1,000 years before Jesus walked the earth. King David’s reign was prosperous, peaceful, and united. He represented the glory days for the 12 tribes of Israel.