Hillsborough United Methodist Church Sermons: Recent Episodes
Rev. Cameron Merrill
A United Methodist community right here in the heart of Hillsborough, committed to serving God, loving neighbors, and growing together in Christ
Third Sunday of Easter (18 Apr 2021) 1 John 3:1-7 Rev. Cameron Merrill “See what kind of love the Father has given to us.” “What kind” as in “from where, from what country.” As if this love that the Father adopts us into sounds like a foreign language to the world, an accent of love. […]
The Resurrection of the Lord (4 Apr 2021) Mark 16:1-8 Rev. Cameron Merrill We gather with the women around the tomb this morning, fully expecting, like them, to find the door still shut. The lock bolted. Jesus safely locked away for the past year, waiting on us to return.Except we don’t. Instead, we get the […]
Fifth Sunday in Lent (21 Mar 2021) John 12:20-33 Rev. Cameron Merrill For this final Sunday in Lent, we come even closer to–far closer than we would like–to the reality of death. Jesus tells his friends that death is coming, his death is coming, and yet we also discover that he will be with us […]
Fourth Sunday in Lent (14 Mar 2021) John 3:14-21 Rev. Cameron Merrill Snakes are loose among the people of God. What do we do when we realize we are the snakes let loose? And what will it take to draw the poison out of us? God’s ‘cure’ continues to surprise us.
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (7 Feb 2021) Mark 1:29-39 Rev. Laura Fine Ledford As the crowds press in around him, Jesus goes off to find a quiet place. And in his prayer–take a beat, take a breath, get away–we find a rhythm to our own life with God and with one another. The discovery that […]
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany (31 Jan 2021) Mark 1:21-28 Rev. Cameron Merrill We might have thought Jesus comes to organize, to order our lives–but apparently, he comes to disrupt us. He calls out of us the demons we have come to love, dispossessing and disrupting us with his love for us.
Third Sunday after Epiphany (24 Jan 2021) Mark 1:14-20 Rev. Cameron Merrill Mending a net comes in two parts: finding the hole, and tying new knots. When Jesus comes up to these fishers along the lakeshore, they are not just out fishing. They are sitting and mending their nets–and that is what Jesus calls them […]
Second Sunday after Epiphany (17 Jan 2021) 1 Samuel 3:1-10, (11-20) Rev. Cameron Merrill “The word of the Lord was rare in those days.” Maybe the Old Testament isn’t such an antiquated story from a bygone era, is it? In times when the word of the Lord feels rare, maybe we aren’t looking or listening […]
Baptism of the Lord (10 Jan 2021) Mark 1:4-11 Rev. Cameron Merrill On this feast day, we discover anew that our lives are torn open, ripped apart by the Word made flesh. This tearing away is not always a bad thing, opening up in us room for God to take up space, through us and […]