Sermons from 2023 (Page 2)
Learning and Living
This week our Gospel reading draws our attention to commandments that are central to our Christian faith… the commandments to love God and our neighbor as our self.
God Behind It All
This Laity Sunday, we recognize that the majority of folks in ministry are lay people, sharing God’s light and love in all kinds of amazing ways!
Renters
The parable of the vineyard renters is full of violence, so much so that we may want to reject it altogether. But what does this parable have to say to us? What was the context in which it was told and can it help us grow in our understanding of what it means to be residents in God’s vineyard?
Re-Member
Today we celebrate World Communion Sunday, mindful of Christ followers around the world gathering at tables of welcome, belonging and grace.
Seeing God’s Vineyard
This week’s Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard does not disappoint! If you strongly value “fairness,” you’re in for a ride. Can we possibly hear this parable and see anything beyond the decisively odd behavior of the land owner, whose actions might seem foolish and unfair to many? Is there a different lens through which we might view God’s vineyard and can that lens make a difference to how we see the world around us today?
Climate Change
As Christians we are asked to not only forgive others but to have forgiveness be the fabric of who we are and how we operate in the world. How do we forgive? What does non-forgiveness look like in our bodies, our lives, our families, our world? In a day and age when the cultural climate is rife with suspicion and hostility, how do we get on board with a Spirit-driven climate change that moves us from environments of vengeance to mercy?
Holy Ground
Today we explore the Bible passage about Moses and the burning bush. How does God reveal God’s self to us? Where and how are we invited to take off our shoes in recognition that we are standing on holy ground? And what are the invitations God extends to us in this time and place?
Resisting Return
It can be tempting to get stuck in a cycle of slaving away and planning for the future. The Israelites were instructed to collect only the manna that they needed. In seasons of rest, how can we be intentional with actively resting? What practices or societal pressures threaten to draw us back into the “rat race”? How should we believe or how should we live if we were to take this admonition seriously?
How We Measure (Up)
Today we explore ways we can get “off course” from the true intention of Sabbath and reorient ourselves…away from “measuring up” and toward “measuring” that which is truly valuable from the perspective of Sabbath rest.
Surely
Today we explore these questions about rest through the lens of the prophet Elijah and the much cherished psalm, Psalm 23. Is rest really that important? What happens to us when we don’t honor the rhythms of life to which God calls us? What is the personal and communal fallout when we fail to rest?