Archive for category: Sermons

Consecrating – October 13, 2019

Scripture: Exodus 19:3-7; 20:1-17

“I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant . . . ” (Exodus 19: 4-5)

The drama of deliverance in the Moses story soon gives way to the drudgery of “so now what?!” as the people wander the desert. There is only so much God can do for us without us doing our part. God can give us reason to trust God, God can bless us, protect us, prosper us, and deliver us. But if we are to truly live into our identity as God’s precious and holy ones, we are called to make a commitment of our own free will.

Scripture: Genesis 39:1-23

“The chief jailer paid no heed to anything that was in Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with you; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper.” (Genesis 39: 23)

It seems Joseph can’t get a break. He is left for dead by his brothers, taken into a foreign land to serve as a slave, then he is lied about by the master’s wife and jailed. But throughout he seems to bloom where he is planted, making a way outa no way. Perhaps on our journey we need to look for blessing not in the absence of struggle, but in the heart of it, where we are protected and prospered.

Scripture: Genesis 6:16-22; 9:8-15

“I will remember my covenant.” (Genesis 9:16)

If doppler radar had been around then, the severe weather warning would have been intense. God tells Noah how to get ready for the deluge and he sets to work, making a way outa no way. We don’t really come to know God until we have some reason to trust God. God’s rainbow covenant allows us the baseline of trust we need to start a journey and process of self-discovery that will lead us into a life renewed that is large enough for us to inhabit with our full selves.

Scripture: Hebrews 13: 1-8; 15-16

So let’s continually offer up a sacrifice of praise through him, which is the fruit from our lips that confess his name. Don’t forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kinds of sacrifices. (Hebrews 13:15-16)

A wonderful quote from the movie “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”: Everything will be all right in the end. If it’s not all right, it is not yet the end. Resurrection reminds us that nothing truly good can die, so we continue to do the work God calls us to do, to be the incarnation of Christ for the world today…for that is the way to life.

Rev. Sandra McNary Preaching

Scripture: Colossians 3: 12-17

Be tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive each other. And over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3: 13-14)

In the Apostle’s Creed, there is a comma between “born of the Virgin Mary” and “suffered under Pontius Pilate”, a comma that delineates everything Jesus said and did between his birth and his death. This part of Colossians gives advice for daily, practical behavior for Christ-followers…what we do is far more important than what we merely believe!