Union University Church

II Corinthians 5:6-7, 16-17September 20, 2020Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott Last week, Stu Smith asked me why during the summer I had called my sermon time a “reflection” instead of a sermon.   “What’s the difference?” he wanted to know. I told him, “Reflections are short and sermons are long,” but honestly, the difference between … More Walk by Faith, Not by Sight

II Corinthians 4:7-18September 13, 2020Union University ChurchRev. Laurie DeMott My favorite season of the year ended just over three weeks ago, on August 20th.  That’s the day the last of the baby bluebirds fledged.  Every April, I listen in anticipation for the whisper of the bluebirds arriving on my property, I spend May worrying about … More Beset from Above, Beset from Below

II Corinthians 2:1-10September 6, 2020Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott After the Sept 11th attack, a journalist was interviewing a couple who lost a son in the World Trade Center bombing and the journalist said, “I know you are Christians.  Will you be attending church this week to seek consolation to help you cope with this … More Forgiveness

II Corinthians 1:1-11August 30, 2020Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott There is a popular children’s book that is titled Alexander’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  Well, we can all sympathize with Alexander this year because 2020 is turning into our national Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year.  Every day we have to take … More Consolation

August 23, 2020Psalm 42:6-8Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott I’ve been thinking about God a lot this week.  Now, many of you are probably saying to yourself, “Laurie, you’re a minister.  Don’t you think about God all of the time?” and that’s true, but most of the time, the kinds of things I am thinking about … More Deep Calls to Deep

Genesis 1Ephesians 2:10Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz.   This is the original Hebrew of the very first verse in our Bible, Genesis 1. Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz:  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” When I took Hebrew in seminary, our professor … More Faith and Creativity

July 12, 2020Mark 4:26-29Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott [Jesus] said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, … More The Birdbath

July 5, 2020Matthew 5:1-12Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott The twelve verses which I just read are called the Beatitudes, from the Latin beatitudo meaning blessed.  In these twelve short verses, Jesus describes the full spectrum of human life and if you were to place these verses over the days of your time here on earth, … More The Beatitudes

June 21, 2020Galatians 2:19-21Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott We’ve celebrated our children and youth who participated in the 2019-2020 program year, and now I want briefly to share with you a story from one of my first youth groups way back in the 1980s.  This was a group that included Judy Bowden, Marcia Stevens, Tom … More Faith is Trust

June 14, 2020 John 15:9-11Union University ChurchReverend Laurie DeMott This is the 13th week of Zoom Church.  13 weeks; that’s over 3 months; a quarter of the year.  Back in March, when the state shut down the schools and a wave of closures swept across New York, the church leadership met to discuss moving to Zoom … More That Your Joy May Be Complete