Things to Ponder: Recent Episodes
St. Mary‘s UCC, Silver Run, MD
Sermons, Reflections, and Musings from St. Mary‘s United Church of Christ, Silver Run, MD, Pastor Sam Chamelin
How do we get so far from home? Evil rarely begins by tempting us to “sin.” More often, it whispers that the life God has given us isn't enough, stirring desires that leave us restless, divided, and far from home. Colby Acuff’s “If I Were the Devil” walks us down a path from our desires, to conflict, to imposter saviors, to a kind of numbness to the world and to God. But Psalm 73 offers us a prayer that restores our vision, exposing the lies we've believed and reorienting our hearts to what we were made for. In Christ, our deepest longing isn't fulfilled by getting what we want, but hearing the voice of the Shepherd who is calling us home to himself.
Advent calls us to develop virtue as we wait for the coming of a Savior: hope, peace, joy, and love. But like the lights of a Christmas tree, unless they are “plugged in,” they won’t shine. Until they’re connected to the source, they can’t do what they were built to do. So it is with us. We weren’t made to shine on our own.
Isaiah coyly says, “The stump is the seed.” How can this be? Stumps are death. Seeds are new life. Seed is possibility. That is the beauty of God - in the midst of destruction, God has placed within Israel new beginnings. And so it is with us.
"Number our days" isn’t about living in anxiety or regret. It means to pay attention to them…God has created character, relationships, opportunities, disciplines into the next chapter for you. You don’t open up to a clean slate; you open up to the power of God at work in your life.
Look back at your last chapter. What sits in your heart that you are delighted to share? What hidden challenges did you overcome? Where did you avoid going sideways—either by good judgment or sheer grace? Number those days, and give thanks, then apply those lessons to what is to come – what are my next, most faithful steps in light of that truth?
Number tomorrow, too. Have big plans, but have small ones, too. What small habit will you practice tomorrow to move toward the person God is shaping you to be? Whatever the season you are entering—whether it’s college, a new job, retirement, or a season of waiting—God is already preparing a path for you and a purpose for you. Wise living isn’t about predicting or shaping the future; it’s about being awake to the present and trusting the story God is writing.
Martha asks, “Am I doing the right thing?” The Corinthians asked, “Is this allowed?” Paul asks a different question entirely, “What kind of person and community are we becoming?” He wants us to use a new filter: Does it build up? Does it give life? Does it deepen love in Christ?
We live in a world that is constantly competing for our attention, but the deepest question is not what captures our attention—it is what deserves it. Increasingly, what keeps us from the life of Christ himself – that resurrected, powerful life filled with the Spirit – isn’t the BAD stuff. It’s filters. Distractions. The world is eager to tell us where fullness can be found. More achievement. More consumption. More visibility. More urgency. More power. More of whatever keeps us moving fast enough that we never stop long enough to ask whether we're becoming wise.
When all the while, the call of Jesus is simply to sit and be. The work will come in due time.
Wisdom realizes we’re shaped less by what we think, and more by what we love. So before Scripture tells us what to do, it is serious about calling us to examine what we want.
Which means wisdom is this: Decide today who you want to be tomorrow. Because the person you become tomorrow is being formed right now.
Christ has never stopped working on you. Christ can see in you what you cannot see in yourself. The Christian faith is not a story about people who always got it right. It's a story about a Savior who keeps calling people back to the right path. And when Christ calls us back, he does more than forgive us. He teaches us how to live. He invites us into a wise way.
Wisdom is the applied knowledge, the practical understanding, we get as we live life, answers the question, “How do I live well? Just one problem. We gain wisdom looking backwards, but we have to live moving forward. Our world is flush with information, but desperately lacking in lived wisdom. Information technologies have not made us more generous, compassionate, or wise.
Wisdom is aligning my life with the way God built the world to work. Wisdom isn’t a principle; it’s a person.
Pentecost demands our desires. It demands those messy, growling-belly parts of our lives we try to hide. When your heart says, “I want... I desire,” the Spirit challenges us to hand those desires to Christ and say, “Lord, here’s what I want. Maybe this is from you, maybe not. Whatever - make my heart beat for your Kingdom.”
We need the imagination to see who actually sits on the throne. Our conviction is that in Christ is our hope, and the hope of the world. Christians says without apology that Christ is not identified with agendas and parties and movements, but that is he above all kings and all presidents and all governments of the world, and demands a higher allegiance. I am a citizen of heaven who happens to live in America. Any my allegiance is to the principles of faith, hope, and love demonstrated on a cross.
Healing is tricky - there's a lot more to it than just "getting better." When Jesus heals Simon's mother-in-law, its not just that she's better; its that she is restored. One woman’s dignity became the public invitation for an entire community. We are restored so that we can stand at the threshold and meet the world,” offering dignity to a world that just wants to know someone cares.
A temple is a place where heaven and earth come mighty close together. In the aftermath of his crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus is building a new temple, a new place for sacrifice, a new place for reconciliation with God. But it’s not coming in the forms of bricks and mortar. It’s not fundamentally coming by building an organization or an institution. It is coming in you and me, “living stones,” who together, as one body, are being constructed together into a home for God and a place for sacrifice, a thin space where this physical world meets the love of almighty God.
For all the bigness of the gospel, for all the grand proclamations that Jesus is drawing all things to himself, his way of sharing that news is surprisingly small. Jesus is at work in the local. The Church that is committed to the Jesus message and the Jesus method will be deeply committed to local. As my (Pastor Sam) grandmother once told me, “A pastor should smell like his congregation.”
The gospel stories of Easter aren’t merely recounting “what happened.” They show us the first moments of a new world breaking into the old. On the road to Emmaus, two disciples can't recognize the risen Christ because they were looking for victory in the ways of the old world. When the open the Scriptures and break the bread, they recognize Christ, who has brought new life that has defeated death. And that changes them forever. So it is with us.
Before Jesus sends the apostles to the world or gives them work to do, he gives them an experience of Himself. Because before anything changes out there, something has to change in me. God renews the world, beginning in the hearts of people. Peter describes it in 1 Peter—a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is not a metaphor for self-improvement. It is a way of saying that the very life of God has been breathed into us.
Faith compels Mary to be at the tomb even without hope, to be faithful without “purpose.” And it is precisely that faithfulness that places her at the moment the light of the world is revealed. In her darkness, she kept moving. And so did God.
While it was still dark, Jesus had already risen from the dead, and the risen Christ was already moving towards her, closer than she could know. While Mary is in despair, Jesus was already risen. While Mary is weeping beside the tomb, Jesus was already risen. While it’s still dark, God was at work. And so it is still.
At Christmas, we confess Jesus is fully human, and fully God. The payoff for that doctrine is Good Friday. On the cross, the full brokenness of our humanity – the Roman soldiers and Judas’ betrayal and Peter’s denial and Pilate and Caiaphas’ cowardice, and every sin and every sickness and every disappointment and every injustice and every violence and every war – is present here. WHILE AT THE SAME TIME all of the love of God – his humiliation to become human and his counting of the hairs on your head and the tears he sheds with us and the life he promises to give us and his great love that lays itself down - is present here as well. Today, all things human and all things divine collapse into a single thing, a singularity, where ALL sin meets ALL God’s love.
On Palm Sunday, Jesus is proclaimed as King. But he is a servant king. Jesus shows his power. But it is the power of co-suffering love. Jesus is proclaimed as liberator. But it is by his cruel execution that we are saved.
So let us cry Hosanna, save us! Save us from our own predispositions to power and rivalry, the small ways we manipulate and strongarm. Hosanna, save us from a world that, for all its promises of a better way, seems determined to steal, kill, and destroy. Hosanna, save us, give us the mind of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
There is no personal call to Christian faith that isn’t a call to the community of believers. Catechesis is a community project. That is the purpose and work of worship. We gather to be shaped together by Christ for life like Christ. This stands in opposition to how we generally talk about worship, evaluating through a consumerist lens, which says church is ultimately a product to be consumed. But the Church aims its work not at our personal desires, but the cross of Christ. So we ask not what “works for us” but what “works on us."
This Sunday, we turn our catechetical thoughts towards the kids! Christianity is a received religion, which means it can only be given from a life to a life, a line connecting all the way back to Christ himself. If we want young people to have a genuine experience of Jesus, then the most important thing we can do is remain at the feet of Jesus. The surest guarantor of wonder and passion in a young person is wonder and passion in an older person. So let us not neglect the gift we have, but strengthen it, that we might pass it on.
One objection to catechesis suggests that ultimately, what we believe isn't so important as what we do. While we always celebrate good in the world, Jesus says that following Jesus means we are more fruitful. The fruit isn't for us, it's for the world. A step towards our community is ALWAYS a step towards Christ first. Catechesis is so that we do good work in the world.
EVERYTHING is religious! That’s not a problem; that’s the world God created. The problem is when we don’t see it. Just because we fail to take interest in the spiritual doesn’t mean the spiritual fails to take an interest in us. And over the course of time, 6 days of work and television and socials and friends and culture will overcome an hour on Sunday every single time. The way of Christ requires a choice.
Catechesis is an intentional process that forms us as disciples of Christ. But it's not a "smorgasbord" of spiritual options, but a path that we walk in the way of Christ. It reminds us of our identity with Christ, and enables us to live like Christ lived. This Lent, set out on this intentional journey to follow Jesus!
At his Transfiguration, Jesus is fully revealed as God from God, light from light. We read this on the last Sunday before Lent, so that we go into Lent strengthened by this vision. So do not head into Lent without having witnessed the uncreated light of Christ.
We did a deep dive into the Beatitudes, Jesus' most substantive teaching on who is blessed (or "happy") in the Kingdom of God. While we might have heard these read from time to time, we tried to bring a new perspective on them, and the invitation to discipleship that they are.
On the heels of our sermon two weeks ago, we wonder what the church can do in times of great upheaval to be a light to the world. We found a historic precedent in St. Benedict of Nursia, who "preserved humanity" in his early monastic groups. Centered on Christ and his cross, we too can be a place which preserves the humanity and dignity of all.
Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 11:7-21
God is not mindless about land, but cares for it, so the Lord sees your faithfulness on it and sees your unfaithfulness on it.“ There is an ominous – perhaps a fatal – presumptuousness in living in a place by the imposition on it of one’s ideas and wishes.” Scripture calls us to this agrarian work, to tell the truth about our land and our selves. Our first, most faithful step isn’t to do, but to listen. An agrarian people must be a contemplative people. Action emerges from silence. Planting emerges from pasture walks. Design emerges from seasons. Repentance emerges from confession. Programming emerges from observation. Because good land, good economy, good communities come from deep faithfulness. Listen. And it is listening, to God, ground, and neighbor, that we come to learn how we live faithfully in this place, a place that Christ gave himself for.
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Sermon Text: Genesis 11:1-9, Philippians 2:1-13, Luke 4:1-13
The Church is the body of Christ, so we reflect Christ's nature - fully human, fully divine. Therefore, there's nothing we do in the church that doesn't have eternal, spiritual ramifications. When it comes to stewardship, all of it draws us to Christ or obscures Christ to us. So as we go through the "administrative" parts of the church in the coming months, let us look with the eyes of faith - pray, listen, discern, and commit.
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Sermon Text: Acts 1
The Church is the body of Christ, so we reflect Christ's nature - fully human, fully divine. Therefore, there's nothing we do in the church that doesn't have eternal, spiritual ramifications. When it comes to stewardship, all of it draws us to Christ or obscures Christ to us. So as we go through the "administrative" parts of the church in the coming months, let us look with the eyes of faith - pray, listen, discern, and commit.
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Sermon Text: Proverbs 3:1-12; Matthew 19:16-26
So when we talk stewardship, we aren’t first talking about budgets, but about a vision. We aren’t talking about money, but about how we align our lives with a world being renewed by Christ, How do I take ALL of me and let Christ’s power flow from me and from us? That’s the question of stewardship!
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Sermon Text: Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Mark 10:2-16
Our associate conference minister, Sheresa Simpson-Rice, joins us to celebrate World Communion Sunday, and to reflect on a faith that calls us to a wider view of God's welcome for all people around the table!
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Sermon Text: James 2
We continue in James, who reminds us that if we are to be faithful people, we must do, not just believe. The minute we ask, "How do I love God?" we are into the realm of religion. Religion based in love requires discipline and sacrifice, but it also makes space for joy. If we would love God well, let us "lift our hands, that our hearts may follow."
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Sermon Text: James 3; Mark 9
Our desires are central to our identity, and to our faith. Jesus calls out the apostles because they wanted greatness, instead of relationship. Jesus' brother, James, teaches us to pay attention to our desires that we might live a wise life.
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Sermon Text: Ephesians 4:17-32
We welcomed 5 new members at St. Mary's, and we reflected on Ephesians' call to be a certain kind of community. Because God has blessed us with "every spiritual blessing in Christ," we commit to following him. In doing so, there are some things we do, and some things we don't. In doing so, we lean into the shared calling we have as a community of Christ.
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Sermon Text: Psalm 104
We all desire renewal, and that's certainly a healthy part of what it means to be human. But we can seek renewal and never consider God's place in it. The scriptures tell us that all renewal begins in God's work. God is moving, we discern, and then we respond. If we are serious about real renewal in our lives, it begins by listening carefully to the Spirit, and planting our feet firmly in God's promises.
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Sermon Text: Psalm 70
The opening to Psalm 70 has been prayed more than any other scripture, "God, come to my assistance!" Our need of God is at the core of our existence and our prayers. But then the psalm goes to pray against one's enemies. How can we understand this in light of Christ and his cross? Are we really supposed to pray against others, or is there a healthier, truer way to pray this prayer?
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Sermon Text: Isaiah 42:5-12; Matthew 9:14-17
We celebrated our students' return to school, and we wondered about God's work in new places. We asked the question: where is God and what is God doing? God is not an old man on a throne judging, but is living and active, taking us to new places, making all things new.
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Sermon Text: Daniel 3; Matthew 16
When faced with grief, society gives us two options: succumb to fear, or puff out our chest in bravado. Perhaps there is a third way, a way that roots us in faith? The story of Sharach, Meshach, and Abednego tells a story of three guys who stood at a real hell and lived to tell the story. When in grief, we discover God is in it with us. And Jesus says that the Church is to be the place where we trust in God's presence always.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 5:20-26
As we explore grief, anger seems to be a strange but constant companion. Anger reveals something about our desires, and if we aren't careful, we can use that anger to defend ourselves from others, when the spiritual reality is inside of us. So "lay your weapons down, there are no enemies in front of you."
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Sermon Text: Matthew 14:22-33
From a religious point of view, "Totem" is a chaotic song, with all of its religious references. In this way, it's a lot like grief - in challenging times, we grasp for solutions to ease the pain. When we do that, we become spiritually confused. Where do we actually put our trust in times of grief? In the story of Jesus walking on the water, we are invited to keep our eyes fully fixed on Jesus even in the most difficult moments of our lives. He's got us, and we can trust him.
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Sermon Text: Psalm 77; Matthew 8:1-4
In Week Two of Turntable, we turned to the grief of others. "Born in the USA" is the dark story of a Vietnam veteran. The beauty of the song is the in the tension of the struggle in the verses and the triumph in the chorus. When we encounter people with grief, what can we offer? Jesus shows us the gift of dignity, that our grief and suffering does not have to define us.
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Sermon Text: Psalm 137; Luke 9:18-25
Turntable Gospel will center on grief, so we started with the genre that does that best: country. Country music thrives in its specificity, to bring you into the story. In faith, grief is what starts our journey towards God, but we must be specific about our grief and name it. In doing so, we discover that our Savior joins us in that grief. Whatever you are carrying, it is a good place to seek the Savior.
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Sermon Text: 2 Samuel 6
We wrapped up a week of VBS by asking the question we asked the kids all week: What is at the core of YOUR faith? For so many of us, it's really fear. But the Bible says, "Fear not." In Christ, we can know a joy deeper than our circumstances. Joy is not a requirement of discipleship, but is rather the by-product of it. We experience that joy as we walk in the way of Christ.
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Sermon Text: Exodus 19
In our final installment of this series, we talk about the United Church of Christ. At the heart of the UCC is a commitment to covenant - an exchange not of goods or services, but of people. In the UCC, we are not connected by laws or authority, but by deep relationships to one another. That empowers our work to proclaim the gospel, work for reconciliation, and to seek justice and liberation for all.
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Sermon Text: John 21:3-19
We are built for community, which means that as soon as we start following Christ we find ourselves in a community of believers, and Christ calls us to care for them, "Feed my sheep." We don't do that as "volunteers," but as "disciples" who are carrying out God's purposes for our lives. To help us do this, we have structures at St. Mary's that lead us, structure our work, and call us to our best selves.
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We're covering the basics of membership in our Sunday worship. Today, we talked the heart of membership - discipleship of Jesus Christ. When we join a church, we don't join an organization, but an organism. At the heart of the church is the story of Jesus - his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And his most basic call to us is, "Follow me." And we're given some important tools - prayer, scripture, and sacrament - to guide us on good and faithful paths.
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Sermon Text: Genesis 12:1-9; Matthew 7:13-20
A testimony is a record of the choices we make to live by faith out of the soil of our disciplines, and the impact our lives make on others. There is no testimony that doesn't require making choices. Abram's choice was to go in the complete opposite direction of the entire world, and Jesus tells us to enter by the narrow gate. Make those hard choices towards the way of God - the love of God, and the love of neighbor.
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Sermon Text: John 14:1-9; 1 Timothy 4:1-12
We are all spiritual beings because we are beings who love. If we love anything at all, we are being spiritually formed. The question then is, “Who or what is forming you?” and “is that where you wanna go? Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ll show you the way.” He’s saying, “I am the way…no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus makes a bold statement: there’s no path to God you’ve glimpsed in your own soul, without Jesus.
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Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-12; Luke 5:1-11
We kick off a new sermon series for Lent, "If You Wanna Go Far..." We begin with motivation. What drives us forward? Can external things, really keep us moving forward in life? Our Scriptures give us a different answer. At Sinai, God implores the people to "Love the Lord your God." And in Luke, Peter has an experience that changes his life. Love is at the core of our most meaningful journeys. What's your story?
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Sermon Text: Mark 9:2-9
The Transfiguration shows us fully what the gospels have only shown us in part: the full divinity of Christ. Elijah and Moses bear witness to this final, full revelation of God's purposes, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him!"
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Sermon Text: Mark 1:29-39
When we participate in intercessory prayer, what is it that we do? In our reading today, Jesus shows us how he interacts with the sick and suffering. Not only was Simon's mother-in-law cured, but she was restored to her vocation. In this way, we see a difference between curing and healing. And when we understand the difference, our eyes can be opened to new ways of seeing the work of God in the lives of others.
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Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 8:1-18
Last week, Mary told us to "do whatever he tells you." This is the path of discipleship. Faith is less about what we think, and more about what we do. Apply this to a unique situation of meal being sacrificed to idols - what should we do? The answer? Always prioritize the needs of others. Don't let anything come between them and their Savior.
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Sermon Text: John 2:1-11
In all of scripture, Mary is our most faithful guide for following Jesus, and helps us understand what we are called to be as the church. In the story of the wedding at Cana, she gives us the most basic instruction of discipleship, "Do whatever he tells you." And in this step, Jesus turns the regular water of our lives into the wine of life and purpose and meaning. To make it even more clear, we took a look at a religious icon to show us in color what being the church is all about - point them to Jesus.
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Sermon Text: Mark 1:4-11
In Noah's flood, a dove announced dry land, a new world is here! Except it wasn't. But in Christ, a dove announces that new world is here, and it lands upon Christ, who has given us a new identity - the Beloved. As we welcome our new consistory, they too receive a new identity, to lead this "ark" not to keep people out, but to bring people on board.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12
The Magi came to worship, and so we are invited in this final Christmas story to worship Christ. In worship, God and his story is made present to us, in a deeply personal way. God is nearer to you at this very moment than your own breath. Worship is simple, but it is a choice to make ourselves fully and personally present to God. And when we fix the life and person of Christ as our star, and we worship with body and soul and spirit, we find a central point to follow on the vast journey of life.
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Sermon Text: Psalm 119
Today we celebrate the hiring of our new program leader for children, youth, and families, as well as bless our 2023-34 confirmation class! Psalm 119, an extended treatise on the "law of God," says they are "happy" who follow in the way of God. Happiness is what we all seek, but our young people are as unhappy as any generation we've seen. The world has promised that all sorts of things can ease that unhappiness, and yet the call to follow Christ promises to remove us from the highway of noise and information and help us walk on water when we keep our eyes fixed on Christ.
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Sermon Text: Revelation 7
Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday, and we are brought face to face with the reality of death. And while death is all around us, and can make us lose hope, we don't have to. Even Christ died, and so there is no place we can go where Christ has not already gone. And Revelation shows us, in images and suggestions, how we can draw hope for our lives from the lives of those who have walked the way of Christ.
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Sermon Text: Ezekiel 36
We usually think of the "Protestant Reformation," but reformation is required anytime people ask other things - church, other people, celebrities - to carry our faith for us. Why? Because our God is intensely personal, and that means faith's beauty and power only comes to full bloom when we carry that faith inside ourselves and live it out in our lives. Perhaps reformation is needed in our lives and in the Church's life once more.
Sermon Text: Mark 1
When are we saved? Is it at baptism? Is it at confirmation? When we say a prayer? Or are we bound to guess for our entire life, hoping to attain heaven one day? In baptism, Christ comes to us, and the powerful voice of God says, "You are my beloved child." Is that not salvation? A good word today as we celebrated the baptism of Bryce!
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Sermon Text: Ephesians 2
What is the role of the church? What are we supposed to do? In Ephesians, Paul identifies the problem - "sin," as he calls it; identifies the solution - God's amazing love, and our path forward - a new way of being human. That is what Christ called us to be. And the role of the church is to live as that new humanity, and in doing so, become the "poem" God intends us to be.
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Sermon Text: John 12
Worldwide Communion Sunday was established in the 30's to meet the needs of a world that was coming apart. Its message was to bring Christian communities together. Today, the world is different, as we all receiving teaching and encouragement from a variety of Christian sources. So what is the urgent question facing the church today? And what can communion say about it?
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Sermon Text: Romans 12:1-5
While the gospel is a message of what Christ has done for us, it can only be fully understood as it is lived, and the Church's responsibility is to witness to that love in the same cruciform way. As Christ gave his body, so we give our bodies. This is what Paul stresses when he writes "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice." And we know this changes lives because someone did that for you - someone gave of themself and witnessed to you so that you could witness to others. So let's do our shared work as a church looking for those who need that love and support.
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Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-7
Pastor Sam stumbled across a social media post that claimed that the main tenet of each religion is basically the same., "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." While there's value to understanding the similarities of religion and the humanity of those who practice them, we also do well to discover what is distinct about Christianity. That distinctiveness we call the gospel - Christ crucified, buried, resurrected, and living today. That is the core of our faith, and is the key to understanding it all - even love.
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Sermon Text: Luke 19:1-10
What does a life – shaped by Kingdom realities, priorities, and values – look like? How do we worship here and go to work on Monday? We can't do it i the style of Babylon; it begins by waiting. Waiting leads to discipline, and discipline leads to passion. And that is a recipe for a vibrant life of God.
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Sermon Text: Galatians 2
We celebrated a baptism today, which intersected nicely with Turntable. If baptism is to mean anything, it has to help us live well, which means it has to be able to speak love and hope to us on our worst days. So we "learn a hard lesson" at the baptismal font, that we are crucified with Christ. But in that death, we know that Christ accompanies us always, and whispers love and hope throughout our life.
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Sermon Text: Romans 57:15-24
Armed with the most wonderful story in the world, why is it that so few believers seem to live as if it makes a difference? Truth is, it's really hard to move into the new life of Christ. As U2 sings, we find ourselves unsteady and unsure. The path forward? To keep practicing the new life, doing the small things that keep us moving forward, trusting that God is bringing the new life inside of us to fruition. Just keep singing.
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Sermon Text: Romans 5, Psalm 40
This song moves our conversation about "Babylon" from the global to the personal. Babylon makes false promises, and yet there's this nagging sense of hope, that things can be different. In Romans, Paul teaches us that in Adam, we are all fallen, but in the second Adam, Christ, we are all made new. This is reflected in the Editors lyrics - our "broken hearts" of shame are turned into the "broken hearts" of freedom and joy. And as a church, we are called to share that new life with others.
In our Bonus Content, we talk about a simple prayer that can help us tell this deeper truth - the truth about Christ, and the truth about ourselves - and how this prayer can move from confession to rejoicing. Let us introduce you to the Jesus Prayer.
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Sermon Text: Isaiah 21; Luke 4
This song is taken right from Isaiah 21, where Isaiah pronounces judgment on Babylon. Babylon is one of the major themes of the entire Bible. What is Babylon? Why is she judged? And what does it mean to live faithfully in the midst of her? Into the midst of another Babylon - Rome - just comes and shows us an entirely new Kingdom.
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Sermon Text: 1 Chronicle 16:7-15; Psalm 42
Last week, we celebrated a baptism. This week: do you remember your baptism? Baptism makes present the reality it proclaims - the cross of Christ and new life! If it is so core to our identity, we cannot allow it to become a distant memory or an old certificate. We must remember regularly. And when we do, God transforms us.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13-17
Today, we celebrated the baptism of Everett! So we wondered about the sacrament of baptism: what is the truest thing about us? At its core, baptism is a desire to say unequivocally the truest thing about you, That you are the beloved child of God. Full stop. And that is why we baptize children. We want to say it before anyone else whispers anything else to you. Before you decided to follow Jesus, Jesus decided to follow you, and called you, and seeks to lavish on you grace and mercy and peace and growth and discipleship and the very Kingdom of God.
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Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 17; Matthew 14:13-21
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Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 3:9b-14
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Sermon Text: John 15; Ephesians 4
We concluded our series on the windows by looking at the final two, representing baptism and communion. What are the sacraments, and what do they do? We talked about the remarkable gift they are. Then we stepped back and looked at the sanctuary in its fullness - what is the message of this place? Short answer? In our deepest heart, God meets us with love and bids us come follow him. That's still our call today.
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Sermon Text: Revelation 4:6-8
Today we looked at the traditional symbols for the four gospels in our windows, and discovered these images come from Scripture itself! They are a reminder that every time we open Scripture, we are brought into the presence of God in a powerful way. the Bible is intended to point us to Christ, and the Bible is only life-changing as we allow Christ to shine through it.
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Sermon Text: Colossians 1
Today, we released a new logo! Logos - and imagery of all kinds - makes our feelings, beliefs, and visions tangible. But the Bible is notoriously skeptical of images, because we can't capture God in a finite image. But what if God GAVE us an image? In Christ, God did. And all of our images are intended to point back to that singular image - Jesus crucified, resurrected, and coming again.
BONUS: For the mission to be alive in the church, it has to be alive in us. What is God cultivating, growing, and renewing in you?
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Sermon Text: 1 John 4
Trinity Sunday is one of a very few Sundays where we celebrate a doctrine. But what does the doctrine of the "Trinity" actually do for us? In the Trinity, God is a swirling, living, breathing experience of love. By being 3-in-1, God can be love in God's very essence. And through the Holy Spirit in us, we participate in that life. To be disciples, then, is to go seeking to give love in community. That is the challenge of the Trinitarian Church.
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Sermon Text: Acts 2
The apostles waited eagerly for the sending of the Holy Spirit, and on that Pentecost Sunday the Spirit was sent and the gospel began its spread across the world, until it reaches us. We are the people the apostles were praying for. In the same way, this congregation has prayed for an outpouring of God's Spirit, and today we confirmed 6 students into the faith and family of Jesus Christ. They are the people we've been praying for. May God bless them, and us, as we set out on this new journey together.
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Sermon Text: Acts 1, Ephesians 1
Good theology starts with a simple question: Where is Jesus' body? On Ascension, we celebrate that Jesus' body goes to the right hand of God. He is above all powers, and fills all things, and our citizenship is in heaven. Church, then, is the place to experience heaven right now, and our responsibility is to join Jesus in bringing heaven's life to earth, "Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done."
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Sermon Text: John 14:1-14
In his resurrection, Christ has created a new home for us. "But how do we get there?" Thomas asked. It can feel that way for us as well. How do we get to resurrected life? Jesus gives us three metaphors, "way, truth, and life." As we commit our lives to Jesus and follow in his way, his truth, and his life, the Kingdom is made real in us.
Bonus Content begins at 21:55. In light of the many shootings and acts of violence all around us, we wonder: can a contemplative life lived in the Jesus way, truth, and life actually bring about change in the world? Spoiler warning - yes!
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Sermon Text: John 10:1-10
Mrs. Diane Flickinger was our special guest speaker to reflect on the ways that Christ is the Good Shepherd. Thank you, Diane, for your wonderful message!
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Sermon Text: Genesis 32
Today we did a Blessing of our Garden. In our gospel reading, Jesus withdrew to a secluded place to pray, a place a lot like this one. It was out of that that he could do the miracles he did. The life we live in relationship to agriculture and the earth is spiritually weighty, and we often find ourselves wrestling with God. That wrestling is holy, and brings us to a place where we can experience God. That's what can happen in a garden - contemplative space that can change us.
Bonus Content (begins at 21:40): What We Need Is here. On the heels of our garden blessing, I thought we might continue the theme by diving into a little poetry - Wendell Berry's "Wild Geese." And through simple, powerful images, he makes a compelling case for resurrection life breaking out in you and in me precisely where we are.
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Sermon Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Rev. Sheresa Simpson-Rice, Associate Conference Minister for the Central Atlantic Conference, UCC, was with us this Sunday to bring greetings and a message! Alloys are created when multiple metals are joined together, bringing the best characteristics of each to bear on a new thing. The apostle Peter tells us that in light of Christ's resurrection, we will go through hard times. But it is our alloyed strength that will see us through.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 28:1-10
How do we get from a crucified Messiah to Easter? How do we get stories of the apostles being murdered and early Christians gathering in holes and caves to tell this story? How do we get martyrs and mystics? How do we get abolitionists and peace activists? How do we get teachers and leaders and pastors and volunteers who talk to you with that look in their eye, that tone in their voice, that communicates love and faith, and hope? Because this happened. And it has been told down through the ages, one person to another, until today. And you're invited to believe it.
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Sermon Text: Mark 11:1-11
On Palm Sunday, Jesus proclaims himself as King as he rides to Jerusalem on a donkey, and the peasant crowds cry out, "Hosanna!" come save us! But from the other side, Pilate rides in on a warhorse, accompanied by soliders. The stage is set: two ways of looking at the world, two ideas of salvation. And we are left with a choice. Some of us have never made a choice for Christ; we've received him as a hand-me-down. Palm Sunday invites all followers of Jesus to consider: is this the King we want?
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Sermon Text: John 11:1-45
As we've walked this Lenten journey, we've told stories and discovered lessons. But...we don't need Jesus for any of them. But Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus is making a bigger, more remarkable claim. Jesus is more than good stories and moral platitudes. He joins us to the very point of death. And he asks if we believe this. If we are to be people of faith, we must deal with Jesus.
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Sermon Text: John 4:1-41
Through your life, God is shedding light on who God is and what God is doing in the world, no turning back. And that story is a gift which makes claims about Christ and his Kingdom. In today's gospel, Jesus changes a man's story forever, but that story falls under scrutiny. Yet though it all, the man grows in his understanding of Christ and his boldness in sharing his story. For us who struggle to know our place, to understand our purpose, the invitation is clear: let Christ show you who you are and who you are being made to be, and the critics can get out.
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Text: John 4:5-42
To become a part of the body of Christ is a wonderful thing. But when we create an "us," we also create a "them." So how do we handle this basic human instinct? Jesus shows us how as he meets a Samaritan woman. He acknowledges the differences, but never tries to "win." Rather, he meets the woman in her deepest needs, and in doing so, changes her life and the life of her community. That's the power of the Church: Us FOR Them.
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Sermon Text: John 3:1-17
Ultimately, Jesus is not asking us to adhere to certain beliefs or a certain behaviors. He offers us a new self. And we’re either going to decide to stay exactly where we are – we’ve worked hard to get here, of course – or we’ll take the leap. A logic-defying, risk-it-all, never-look-back leap of faith. A leap that believes the spirit will blow wherever it wants to, far outside the bounds of what you consider “proper religion.” Why? Because “God so loved the world.” God took a leap when Jesus came and took on flesh.
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Text: Exodus 16; Luke 24:27-35
Altar calls offer a powerful emotional response to the creative Word of God. The response to God’s Word has to be personal; God’s love must be met with a response, with our bodies and our intentions and our will. Why don't liturgical traditions have such a tradition? It turns out that we do. In the sacraments, we respond to the death and resurrection of Christ with all of our lives. When we participate in the sacraments, we participate in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, and there find God's love and mercy in abundance.
Bonus Content: We had some great thoughts and questions come in about liturgy and the sacraments, so let's have some fun with religion, history, philosophy, and science. Maybe the sacraments create enchantment, and that is good for our bodies! It begins at 21:00, for those who want to skip ahead:-)
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Text: Revelation 10:9-10; Luke 24:17-27
Ours is a faith based in words, and those words carry meaning. We should therefore let our words be shaped by the community, which is what we find in the Bible. When we encounter those words with deep hearing and faith, they create the realities they proclaim - new things are created, forgiveness is given, relationships are built. As a people, then, we are invited to fall in love with the Scriptures as a way of seeing the world made new.
Bonus Content! We've added a story at the end, the story of a famous Christian whose life changed because of the Scriptures. And, by the way, his changed your life as well. It begins at 24:00 minutes.
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Text: Philippians 4:4-9; John 15:9-17
We participate in worship because we seek joy, but joy comes from relationship and common purpose. Worshipping with and for others is where we develop the capacity for joyful worship, discerning the Communty past, present, and future.
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Text: Romans Exodus 32:1-11; Romans 10:9-17; Luke 4:16-21
We kicked off a new sermon series about liturgy! God desires that we should learn to love God more. Liturgy is a tool to do that. But if liturgy is based in our wants and desires, we'll only be formed into what we already are, rather than growing into all God has for us. Liturgy based in love honors God, and forms us in faith. It is the great and wonderful gift of liturgy that in coming to render our service to God, God in his wisdom reveals who we are.
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Text: Matthew 2:1-12
Under pressure, the powers and principalities of the world showed us what they are – brutal, jealous, scheming. Under that same pressure, Christ and his story invites all people to hope. It is a global gospel for every single person.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 24:36-44
Advent is the season that is honest about the fact that our lives are too full for God’s goodness and abundance. When this child comes, he’s bringing some stuff. He’s bringing a new way of being in the world. He’s bringing forgiveness of sins. He’s bringing a sense of life and purpose to you. He’s bringing hope, peace, joy, and love to you in heaping helpings. And like a good grandmother on Thanksgiving, God isn’t gonna heap more on your plate if you already got a full plate! You want your stuff, or you want God’s stuff? If the answer is God’s gifts, then it’s cleanout time.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 25:14-30
The parable of the talents goes far, far beyond money to two ways of seeing God. One way: a kind, generous, risk-rewarding God. The other: hard, lazy, judgmental. The question we are left with: which God do we choose? The God Jesus points to is a risk-taking, initiative-seeking, joyful God. Therefore, reject any pull towards the hard God who makes you think you should bury your gifts in a hole. Choose the God who is calling you to his very own joy.
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Sermon Text: Luke 6:20-31 All Saints asks a very blunt question: do you buy this story of Jesus? We've heard this question before, but today it is asked by our loved ones. If that answer is yes, then it is our loved ones who say, Come. Draw near to Christ, and he will draw near to you." Where shall we do this? Well, today we have a table. This table is powerful, for here we are brought into the gates of heaven itself. And if we believe all that Christ says, then it is the very gate of heaven where the saints meet us, our Sunday meal. If we want to be close to our loved ones, let us draw near to this table and Christ's cross, and follow the way of Christ. Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite... https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/ Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-...
Sermon Text: Matthew 18:18-20
Intercessory prayer remains at the heart of a local church. When someone asks us to pray for them, they are opening for us an entry to the sacred. Prayer requests are a sacred trust, a sacred encounter that needs to be nourished, cared for, and respected. Intercessory prayer takes us into a bigger, more complex, more mystical world, where God is living and active, and we are invited to participate in the healing of the world.
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Sermon Text: Luke 18:9-14
For Jesus the most critical categories aren't sinner v. saint, but the proud and the humble. Whatever we believe about ourselves and our adversaries, we’re all sinners. The question is, are we proud sinners or humble sinners? If we’re proud sinners we create ways to justify ourselves in our own eyes by favorably comparing ourselves to those whom we deem worse than us. But if we are humble sinners we throw ourselves entirely on the mercy of God.
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Sermon Text: 2 Corinthians 3
We serve a Christ who was prophesied about, came to us born of a virgin, did miraculous healings, said that he and God are one, walked on water, calmed the storm, raised the dead, was crucified and raised himself, ascended into heaven, and our only takeaway is, “Be a good person"?
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Sermon Text: Exodus 19
Rural churches sit on the margins of society and have an opportunity to live deep faith in the wilderness. Wilderness is volatile, and challenges us. But we have the opportunity to become acquainted with our deepest selves, to think God's thoughts in a contemplative community. Let us seek living into the quiet that strengthens souls and communities.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 15
Churches can find themselves leaning into personal devotion or social justice, when both are necessary to a full and vibrant mission, and fear will then drive our work. But God is already at work in the world, and there are wonderful and beautiful things for us to find. We should be prepare to be surprised as we seek the renewal of our communities and the world.
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Sermon Text: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Faith is a work of imagination, seeing what cannot yet be seen. As we draw near to the cross, we discover a community forming around it. We are called to embrace that community, and to imagine what it means to have the crucified Christ at the very center of it. Imagination allows the church to grow strong and beautiful.
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Sermon Text: Luke 9:51-62
Amongst a distracted and undisciplined age, Jesus asks his church to set our face, to be serious about cultivating the life of Christ. The only thing we have to offer the world is Christ, to make him known. And that alone feeds the world, heals the world. Jesus says, “Here’s who I’ve made you to be. Allow me to cultivate that: tear out what isn’t truly you, form you into what you already are. Just keep looking at me, your eyes ahead, keep plowing.”
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Sermon Text: John 16:12-24
Faith cannot be "renewed," it is either given as a gift or not. Spiritual growth most usually feels like something is revealed inside of us, not something entirely new. As we celebrate 260 years as a congregation, the faith that was in our ancestors is in us, it simply continues to be revealed more and more by the Spirit inside us. If we seek a faithful future, then we must be rooted in prayer and contemplation, which will drive us to discover more of what the Spirit has yet to reveal.
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Sermon Text: Matthew 6:5-15
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Sermon Text: Luke 5:17-26
The only place we have influence is those with whom we will have relationship – hey brother, hey sister.This is why the Christian church has used these words to describe one another for millennia. The work, then, is to always bring others into the circles we call brother and sister. And then, we dance. And we can dance when the vision of who my brother is and who my sister is always expands, so that I can carry them.
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Sermon Text: Luke 15
Sin isn't the truest thing about us, and it's not the place to start when we think about God. Love is the place to start. When we start with love, we see how beautifully made we are, how beautiful the world is, and love calls us to our best and most authentic selves. Because of this, the most authentic sound of faith is joy and celebration.
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Sermon Text: Mark 3:1-6
When we are in pain, we seek connection more than solutions. Empathy is the spiritual virtue of connecting with others in their pain so that it can be processed and healed. Our best religion is a religion of empathy. Jesus becomes irate when he sees his people practicing sympathy - seeing pain, but staying far away. We are called to run up that hill alongside of others.
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Sermon Text: Mark 11:12-25
Fear is powerful because it is clarifying and drives passion; fear makes us feel alive! It is entirely natural for us both as individuals and communities, which makes our fears spiritually critical. In the wake of Jesus, communities of faith needed to be warned about the tendency for change to come for the change-makers. And so he warns with pastoral affection - there is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out fear.
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Sermon Text: Ecclesiastes 3:16 - 4:7, Luke 4:31-37
The central question of grandson's song, and this generation: "Is hope even viable?" Ecclesiastes will meet this hopelessness with honesty, and Jesus will meet it with compassion. To be the church is not to cast judgment on those who suffer, but to get our hands dirty is offering hope to all.
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Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 7
This is a weird story for a VBS, but it is an important one for believers. After chasing gods and relevance for years, Samuel finally calls the people back to their truest selves. And together, they commit to God. A powerful story in a world that is constantly seeking to call us away from our most essential self.
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Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-9, Matthew 19:13-15
God wants to reach you and teach you in those spaces that you thought were for someone else. Spiritual formation is never one person or group doing something for another person or group. It is always a communal work. We are shaping and are shaped, iron sharpening iron. So what does a great week of VBS look like?
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Sermon Text: Luke 8:43-48
Roe v. Wade thrusts the local church back into the work of addressing national issues. When the issues come close, we discover we aren’t talking about ideas, but about people who want healing, relationship, peace. And there's a small, unnamed saint who draws near to Jesus for that healing, and invites us to do the same.
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Sermon Text: 1 Kings 19
When we live our lives tethered to a deep contemplative life and God’s ongoing provision, we will walk with the wisdom and grounding of Elijah. This is the deep life to which we are called if we are serious about a life of meaning, purpose, virtue. It’s either that, or be swallowed by the darkness of ignorance, folly, and destruction that defined Elijah’s world and ours. But we can make a choice.
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Sermon Text: Proverbs 8
Trinity - three persons, one God. It's not just a way to understand God, but also ourselves – we are one, we are ourselves, living moving and breathing in this world. And yet we are inextricably part of a community – the community that is God, and the community that is one another. And only when we embrace that tension do we discover our truest selves, and get called deeper into the mystery of our faith.
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Sermon Text: Acts 2:1-21
Pentecost exists prior to the Church. But on this Pentecost, we weren't given a book, or a new law, but the Holy Spirit. The message is clear: the law we live by is the Holy Spirit, who is making everything a new creation. Pentecost is a call to new life and a creative spirit.
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Sermon Text: Acts 1:1-11
Ascension invites us to imagination. If Christ is king of all, and all things are under his feet, what is possible? Is it possible to have a world without shootings, without war, without violence? The church is called to be a prophetic witness and embodied presence of the King of kings who is over every nation, every economics, every politics.
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Sermon Text: John 5:1-9
Meritocracy leaves bodies in its wake. Mercy seeks out the most vulnerable and brings healing. The question is: do we, the Church, want to be healed?
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Sermon Text: Acts 11:1-18
Peter's mystic vision wasn't about dietary laws, or some particular piety. It was about people. Less boundaries, more inclusion, more discovery of God's goodness everywhere.
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Sermon Text: Luke 15:1-10
Our pictures of Jesus are often so tame. Leave it to a religious icon to show us a rambunctious, unruly, undeterred Christ, who grabs for everyone with unrestrained love.
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Sermon Text: John 20
Mary Magdalene mistakes the resurrected Jesus for the gardener. Is it possible she spoke more than she knew?
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Sermon Text: Luke 19:28-44
Palm Sunday sets up a clear confrontation between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Caesar. Whom shall we follow, and what is the path?
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Sermon Text: John 12:1-8
The question at the heart of all disciplines, is, “What do you love?”
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Sermon Text: Luke 15
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Sermon Text: John 31-17
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Sermon Text: John 5:19-24
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Sermon Text: Luke 4:1-13
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Sermon Text: Hebrews 12, Matthew 6
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Sermon Text: Nehemiah 8, 1 Corinthians 12, Luke 4
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Sermon Text: Luke 3, Isaiah 43
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Sermon Text: Colossians 2:1-3
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Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12
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Sermon Text: Philippians 1:3-11
N.B. - For Advent, we're doing a series of Children's Sermons, so there will be some times where the children speak. Hope it blesses you!
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Sermon Text: Jeremiah 33:14-16
N.B. - For Advent, we're doing a series of Children's Sermons, so there will be some times where the children speak. Hope it blesses you!
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Sermon Text: John 18:33-37
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Sermon Text: Psalm 24
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Sermon Text: Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Mark 12:28-34
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Sermon Text: Psalm 150
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Sermon Text: 1 Peter 3:8-11; Matthew 16:13-19
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Sermon Text: Psalms 4 and 5
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Sermon Text: Psalm 57
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Sermon Text: Psalm 3
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We apologize in advance - we did not capture the entire sermon, but what we have is included here. Our apologies!
Sermon Text: Psalm 1 and 2
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Sermon Text: Genesis 12:1-4
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Sermon Text: Lamentations 3:17-26; Matthew 9:35-38
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Sermon Text: Psalm 86, Luke 24
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Sermon Text: Jeremiah 5, Matthew 25:31-46
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Sermon Text: 1 Kings 19:4-8
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Sermon Text: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
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Sermon Text: Ephesians 3:14-21
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Sermon Text: Jeremiah 23:1-6
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Sermon Title: The Danger of Bible School
Sermon Text: Luke 10:1-9
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Sermon Text: Mark 6:1-13
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Sermon Text: 1 Kings 19:11-12; 2 Peter 1:5-8; Luke 15:11-32
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5th Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: 1 Timothy 4:4-16
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4th Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: John 2:1-11
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3rd Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Text: Luke 5:17-39
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Trinity Sunday
Sermon Text: Isaiah 6:1-8
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Pentecost Sunday
Sermon Text: John 13:31-35
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Sermon Text: John 13:31-35
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Sermon Title: Don't Overlook the Jots and Tittles
Sermon Text: Matthew 5:17-20
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Sermon Text: John 20:18-31
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Preaching Text: Jeremiah 30:18-22; Colossians 3:1-4; Matthew 13:52
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Preaching Text: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
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Preaching Text: John 20:19-31
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Text: Mark 16:1-8
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Text: Mark 11:1-11
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Text: Matthew 17:14-20, Psalm 121
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Text: Mark 5:1-17
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Mental health challenges didn't arrive with the pandemic. They've always been here - in our workplaces, in our homes, in our community, in our churches. The question now facing the church: what does our faith require of us? Today, we heard stories of mental health challenges. We heard some ways that our scriptures and our faith can speak to those challenges with compassion. And we heard one way we can address these challenges as a congregation through a process called WISE, an initiative through the United Church of Christ.
Sermon: Legion: An Invitation
Preaching Text: Mark 5:1-17
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Preaching Text: Mark 19-15
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Preaching Text: Isaiah 58:1-12
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Preaching Text: Mark 9:2-9
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Preaching Text: Luke 24:13-35
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Preaching Texts: Exodus 7:1-13; Matthew 14:22-36
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Preaching Texts: Preaching Text: Ephesians 5:1-2, 15-20; Psalm 139:1-14; Luke 13:10-17
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Preaching Texts: Genesis 1:1-5; Psalm 4; Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 1:4-11
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Preaching Texts: Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12
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Preaching Texts: Isaiah 40:1-11; Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; John 1:1-14
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Preaching Texts: Isaiah 64:1-9; Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19; Colossians 1:1-14; John 1:1-14
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Preaching Texts: Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Psalm 95:1-7a; Hebrews 4:1-16; Matthew 25:31-46
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Preaching Texts: Judges 4:1-7; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11; Matthew 25:14-30
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Preaching Texts: Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25; Psalm 70; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 25:1-13
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Preaching Texts: 1 John 1:1-3; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; Matthew 5:1-12
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Preaching Texts: Isaiah 43:15-19; Psalm 104:1-4, 24-30; Romans 1:16-17; Luke 18:1-8
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Preaching Texts: Colossians 1:1-14; Psalm 85; John 17:11b-26
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Preaching Texts: Exodus 32:1-14; Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23; Philippians 4:1-9; Matthew 22:1-14
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Preaching Text: Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 80:7-15; Philippians 3:4b-14; Matthew 21:33-46
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Preaching Text: Matthew 21:23-32
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Preaching Text: Matthew 20:1-16
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Preaching Text: Matthew 18:21-35
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Preaching Text: Isaiah 40:27-31, 2 Corinthians 4:1-10, 16-18
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Preaching Text: James 2:14-26
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