Sermons

The renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright once told of an incident that perhaps seemed insignificant at the time, but had a profound influence on the rest of his life. The winter he was nine-years-old, he went walking across a snow-covered field with his reserved, no-nonsense uncle. As the two of them reached the far end […]

The Rev. Amy Starr Redwine, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia in her sermon “No Shame In That” based on the story of the woman at the well says: “This woman is by herself with a jar at a well —the ancient near east equivalent of a singles bar —and she is naturally […]

Still, when Jesus began to make his way up the mountain in our text for today, Peter, James, and John followed him, picking their way over outcroppings of rock and the slippery coating of dust and sand, to stand with him at the top. They look back over all that had happened. They remembered being […]

Our scripture this week is Matthew 5: 21-37.   When we listen to God’s commands, when we listen to Jesus’ preaching, we listen not just to the words he used. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand what God intended for us to know… and how God intends for us to live. God […]

Y’all “…, telling us that we aren’t just a bunch of “yous,” but one great big y’all. It draws us in and reminds us that there is something in our witness that can shine, that we exist as that one community in the world which by its very presence reminds the world that God loves […]

And, the child born in Bethlehem came to love and serve and save families: families like his own family… who have to deal with imperfect situations, or terrifying moments. He came to love and save families who have to flee one country in order to seek safety in another. He came to love and save […]

Most people in our world don’t understand peace as a positive concept. All they know is the negative aspect of peace, which is merely the absence of trouble. The definition of peace in many languages of the world illustrates that. For example, the Quechua Indians in Ecuador and Bolivia use a word for peace that literally translates, “to sit down in […]

Martha’s opened her home to offer hospitality to this traveling rabbi and his entourage. She’s doing it as a public sign of her religious commitment. In welcoming Jesus and his followers, she’s following the time-honored Middle-Eastern ritual of hospitality.  AND THEN… How busy are YOU these days?

She was sick with a fever; …and that-was a serious-thing… Now-a-days, we generally-think-of ‘fever’ as a minor-kinda-thing. It’s unpleasant. It’s not-something that you’d wish-on-a-person; …but, when you have a fever, you take a Tylenol and go-to-bed. But… that wasn’t the case before pharmaceuticals! A fever could be a life-threatening experience.

Disciples who believe resurrection, live resurrection: we form our lives in the way of the one who sends us, we passionately pursue peace, we breathe into the world the life that has been breathed into us, we let go through forgiveness. May the world see the Resurrected One in our living.