Sermons by Lori Leopold
A Joyful Noise, Singing Our Faith
This week we’re celebrating Gospel Music Sunday! Join us as we make a joyful noise and sing our faith, taking a few moments along the way to explore the history of Gospel Music, its distinctive sound, and the faith it expresses. Does Gospel Music set your toes a-tapping? This is the Sunday for you! Does Gospel Music sound like fingernails on a chalkboard? This is the Sunday for you, too!
Not for the Faint of Heart
This week’s gospel reading draws us into the account of Jesus walking on water to the disciples in a storm tossed boat. What was going on with Peter? Why did he challenge Jesus in the first place? And what did Jesus mean when, safely back in the boat, he spoke to Peter saying, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
Daybreak
As is our Communion Sunday tradition, the sermon this week will be a first person story. This Sunday we’ll spend time with Jacob from Hebrew scripture. He was a true character with a story to tell!
Old and New
We are deep into a section of Matthew’s gospel that offers us a party of parables! This Sunday we’ll look for God in common things like seeds, yeast, fields, pearls and more. How do these ordinary things reveal the extraordinary aspects of the Divine?
A Sower Went Out to Sow
This week our scripture passage is Jesus’ Parable of the Sower. It’s one of Jesus’ many parables that challenges us to consider how God’s goodness and grace get planted in the world and when/how/why the things of God grow! What seeds need to be sown? What difference does the soil make? And what qualities are called for in the Sower?
Beyond Imagination
Today Pastor Lori and Lay Leader, Ken B., share inspiration and updates from our California-Pacific Annual Conference. This year’s theme is “ASTONISH.”
Called in the Spirit
While women have been integral to ministry since the beginning of time, it wasn’t until 70 years ago that women, in Methodist tradition, gained full clergy rights. This week we will celebrate that milestone, mindful that the Spirit calls whom the Spirit calls.
Finding Jesus
This Sunday we experience Jesus through the lens of Matthew the tax collector. Jesus found him sitting at his tax collector booth. But what did Matthew discover about what it means to find Jesus as he witnessed Jesus’ interactions with those in need?
Everywhere
This Sunday we celebrate Trinity Sunday, which is not simply an opportunity to learn about a doctrine of the church, but more importantly, it’s a chance to contemplate the invitation to be in relationship with the Divine who, with an abundance of love and grace, interacts with us in a whole myriad of different ways.
Finding Our Voice
This Sunday we celebrate Pentecost, recalling the coming of the Holy Spirit, what’s often referred to as “the birthday” or “the beginning” of the church. What changed with the inbreaking of the Holy Spirit? How did it empower people of faith to connect with one another, across all their differences? And does the Holy Spirit still have that power today?