Sermon, “Surprise!” Surprised? You weren’t expecting this were you? (I was wearing a Santa hat and beard.) While today is the 2nd Sunday of Advent, it is also known in the Christian calendar as the remembrance day of, can you guess? Saint Nicholas, of course! In the 4th Century, Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra, which is modern day Turkey. Nicholas was a real person whose parents died when he was young. He gave his entire inheritance to those in need. That began a spirit of generosity that defined his life. Even as he became the Bishop of Myra, he … Continue reading Sermon for 2nd Sunday of Advent, “Surprise!”

Hebrew Bible Reading                                Isaiah 64: 1-9 64 Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down,    that the mountains would tremble before you!2 As when fire sets twigs ablaze    and causes water to boil,come down to make your name known to your enemies    and cause the nations to quake before you!3 For when you did awesome things that we did not expect,    you came down, and the mountains trembled before you.4 Since ancient times no one has heard,    no ear has perceived,no eye has seen any God besides you,    who acts on behalf of those who wait for him.5 You come to the help of those who gladly do right,    who remember your ways.But when we … Continue reading Advent 1: “Waiting”

Sermon- All Saints Day        “Be A Saint”              “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Never have I clung to words of a Gospel reading like these words from Jesus. For all of us, we enter this November with grief at our losses. During this year of 2020, we have all lost something, maybe it’s our sense of comfort or security, jobs or compensation, or maybe just our health, and I know for many of us we have lost the ability to visit family freely and still long to see grandchildren and family across the country. I … Continue reading Sermon for All Saints Day- “Be A Saint”

Galatians 6:14–18 May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything! As for those who will follow this rule– peace be upon them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one make trouble for me; for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen. … Continue reading Sermon for Oct 4th, 2020, “The Way of Francis, Wesley, and Jesus”

New Testament Reading    Ephesians 4: 15-24 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. Instructions for Christian Living 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in … Continue reading Sermon, Aug 16, 2020, “Total Authenticity” (Includes Daily Examen)

Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Reading Deuteronomy 10: 12-22      12 So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. 14 Although heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord your God, the earth with all that is in it, 15 yet the Lord set … Continue reading Sermon, Aug 16th, 2020, “Pull Up A Chair”

Epistle Reading (New Testament)            Romans 8: 1-11 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 Those … Continue reading Sermon “Community of Compost”

Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) Reading             Zechariah 9: 9-12 9 Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. 10 He[a] will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war-horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 11 As for you also, because of the blood of my … Continue reading Sermon, July 6th, 2020, “Captives of Hope”

Gospel Reading Mark 6: 34-37 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. 35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” Leader: This is the Gospel of … Continue reading Sermon, June 28th, 2020: “Compassion Is An Act of Love”

New Testament Reading James 1: 19-27 19 You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for your anger does not produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls. 22 But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; 24 for … Continue reading Sermon, June 22, 2020, “Listening Is An Act of Love”