Archive for category: Sermons

Scripture: Luke 6: 27-38

Loving your enemies…In Luke, Jesus goes to the mountains for prayer, reflection, refreshment, rejuvenation. It is while enjoying one of these mountaintop moments that Jesus singled out 12 apostles from among his many disciples. Immediately after this, Jesus leads his newly appointed apostles back down the mountain to “a level place,” a place where apostles, disciples and a crowd of eager people stand shoulder to shoulder. The level place accords them all equal footing, just as they are all equally in need of Jesus’ message. And this is what they hear.

The Call to Follow – February 6, 2022

Scripture: Luke 5: 1-11

The extraordinary catch of fish and the call to the first disciples to begin catching people resulted in their leaving everything behind to follow Jesus. This Sunday includes the celebration of communion. We are called by God, as the disciples were, to share in the abundant feast of that which binds us together, the grace of God. And to share the literal feast — the resources of this earth — is to live in the image of a holy and gracious God.

Scripture Fulfilled – January 23, 2022

Scripture: Luke 4: 14-21

Reading from the Torah scroll, Jesus claims the Spirit of the Lord to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. As Christians, we believe that there is something of value in gathering together to hear, see, and experience the Good News. We gather for worship to “try on for size” what right relationship looks like — what it is to suffer together and rejoice together. The kingdom of God is built up by this coming together and then by our walking in the world together in the ways of Jesus, the Anointed One. We recommit to the power of community—daring to wall for sake of the life of all God’s creation.

Spirit and Fire – January 9, 2022

Scripture: Luke 3: 15-22

The seeds of hope for God’s reign are sown in an infant before whom the wise kneel. The early church believed that Epiphany (besides Easter and Pentecost) was one of the most important times of the year for baptisms, making this a wonderful Sunday to both baptize and reaffirm our baptism, a baptism of water and the Spirit.

Scripture:  1 Samuel 2: 18-20, 26; Luke 2:  41-52

Because the Old Testament and New Testament readings for this Sunday tell the story of a boy in “church,” we thought we’d start there — with boys in church.