John 21:1-17 April 15, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott Yankees catcher Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s deja vu, all over again.” Well, here in the final chapter of the gospel of John, it’s deja vu all over again. Peter and the other disciples are fishing, casting their nets continuously into the water only … More Deja Vu, All Over Again
John 20:19-31 April 8, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott If you are looking for games that provoke a lot of discussion, laughter, and occasionally disgust, you might want to try a game called “Would you rather?” I’ve been playing this game for years with my youth group but for those who would like … More Would You Rather?
Romans 5:1-5 April 1, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott Hope is a frustrating thing. Just when you need it most, it is often the hardest to find. I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately — actually I’ve been thinking about it for the last six weeks because our Lenten theme has been … More The Art of Hope: Easter
March 25, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott During the weeks of Lent, we have been looking at ways in which the arts express our faith and inspire us with hope. We’ve heard poems and stories, sung hymns, eaten bread, and moved our bodies in an expression of reverence, and finally in this last … More The Art of Hope: Christian Art and the Cross
March 11, 2018 Luke 13:10-17 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott You’ve probably seen a woman like the one in our gospel reading, a woman whose back is so distorted that she is permanently bent in half. What would it be like, we wondered, to have your eyes always glued to the ground; to see … More The Art of Hope: Spirit and Body
Matthew 13:1-9, 33 March 4, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott The other day, I was indulging my love of silly sci-fi by watching a show about time travel and in this particular episode, the characters had traveled back to the 1940s where they met the film actress Hedy Lamarr. Hedy Lamarr was a … More The Art of Hope: Crafting Beauty
John 1:1-11 February 25, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott There’s a lot of competition today between the tech giants Google, Amazon, and Apple as they constantly vie to be the best that technology can offer but I recently saw proof that Apple is closer to perfection than all the rest or at least … More The Art of Hope: The Word
Luke 5:1-11 February 18, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott This is a slightly different sermon than I planned on preaching because as you know, this past week, in an event that is becoming despairingly frequent, a young man walked into a high school in Florida and opened fire, killing 17 people. When the … More Cosmos Out of Chaos
Luke 4:16-30 February 4, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott In today’s passage from Luke, Jesus stands up in worship before his neighbors and friends in his hometown of Nazareth and reads from the scroll of Isaiah. Initially, the people are pleased with him, proud of his scholarship and the eloquence of this man … More Spittin’ Mad
Luke 4:1-15 January 28, 2018 Union University Church Reverend Laurie DeMott Winter in western NY can be harsh. Even in a fairly mild winter, there will be days when the wind scours your skin and the cold burrows into your bones, when you walk with creaks and clackings, a brittle skeleton of living icicles. When … More Into the Wilderness
