Sermons on Luke
What Do You Fear? – In the Time of Herod, We Long for God to Break In
Our Advent theme this year is “What Do You Fear? Insisting on Hope this Advent.” We’ll be exploring themes of fear and hope, examining our relationship with fear as well as the ways our faith invites us, in the midst of all things, to insist on hope.
A Whole New World
Today’s passage will surely make many of us say, “Hmmmmm.” It begins with an antagonistic question from some of the religious leaders about Jewish customs related to marriage and the resurrection. Seemingly far from the realm of our lives, Jesus’ answer opens a place and space to ponder this life in relation to the nature of the next.
Birds of a Feather
Today we come alongside Zacchaeus (up in a tree) to reflect on unlikely saints in our personal and collective stories. We also honor the saints who have died in the last year, giving thanks for their lives and legacies.
Examined Lives
Today, we grapple with Jesus’ story of the (self) righteous religious leader and the penitent tax collector. This account appears simple on its exterior but invites us into the complexities of how our faith calls us to look both outward and inward with deep compassion.
Mark_Berry
We gather to celebrate the remarkable life of our sister in Christ, Marina Marsh.
Who Will Tell?
Today, join Rev. Lesley Brogan as we explore together the story of the “Healing of the 10 lepers”… but only one comes back to say thank you. “Your faith has made you well.” What’s in a healing? Is it from the outside-in or the inside out? “Your faith has made you well.” Who turns back to say thanks, to tell the story?
A Great Chasm
The authorship of our scripture passages this Sunday span nearly a millennia. Even today, two thousand years after the gospel’s writing, we still see clear evidence of humans hoarding wealth. What are we to do with these reminders to notice and address inequality and injustice? Join us this today as we wrestle with both Amos and Luke.
Children of the Light
Today we will wrestle with one of Jesus’ most challenging parables, the parable of the dishonest steward. Jesus’ parables were designed to shock and surprise listeners into engagement and this parable is a perfect example. What do we do with these verses that seem to recommend a conniving and dishonest way of being in the world? How might we tease out the gist of Jesus’ advice for the “children of the light” as he points them…us…to learning a thing or two from the “children of this age?”
Search Party
Have you ever lost something and invested an over-the-top amount of time and energy to find it? If yes, you have a small glimpse into the heart of our searching God who is unrelenting when it comes to finding the lost. Who was Jesus talking about in these parables? Are we the ones who are lost, or the ones who seek, or are we the community that is called to rejoice when the lost are found? Or maybe a little bit of all three?
Seating Arrangements
In this week’s lectionary reading, Jesus helps us to see how opting into kin-dom living doesn’t necessarily happen in extraordinary moments in our lives. In fact it often happens in the most ordinary moments, including how we gather around tables. Today we get a glimpse into how that might have unfolded through the eyes of Sophia, a servant in the house of a prominent pharisee where Jesus was invited to dine.