Sermons & Worship (Page 25)

Scripture: Revelation 1:4-9 Every year, as Thanksgiving approaches, the refrain “All is safely gathered in,” runs constantly through my brain. Beginning in October, I start checking off the items on my winter preparation list: the snowblower must get its tune-up, my car must have snow tires; I have to compost the pond plants and replace them with a small heater to keep my goldfish from freezing solid in January; there are lawn chairs to put away, gardens to tidy up,…

Scripture: Romans 8:31-39 On the bookshelf in my living room, taking up nearly an entire shelf, is my twelve-volume set of the New Interpreter’s Bible, commentaries on all 66 books of the Bible containing biblical analysis and suggestions for preaching themes and reflections. Right next to those 12 volumes taking up the rest of the space on that shelf is a three-volume set of the Complete Calvin and Hobbes, all of the comics that Bill Watterson wrote over the ten-year…

Scripture: I Corinthians 12:12-14, 25-26 When I was growing up, one of the stories we liked to hear my mother tell was the story of how she and my father met. When he was a senior in high school, my father was the President of the Monroe County American Baptist youth fellowship, and my mother’s older sister (my Aunt Jean) was vice-president of the Youth fellowship. My Aunt Jean had a terrible crush on my father, but my father was…

Scripture: I Corinthians 1:1-9  I want to talk to you today about salvation which I know will immediately make some of you squirm uncomfortably. We mainline Christians don’t like to talk about salvation much because the word has been so misused that it makes us uncomfortable. It reeks of the street corner evangelist who suggests that all you have to do is say the words, “I accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior,” and you will get a free…

Scripture: Acts 11:19-26; Galatians 2:7-13    Introduction to scripture: I have been preaching this fall through the historical periods of the Hebrew scriptures, talking about the faith lessons the Bible wants us to learn from those periods and we are now going to turn to the Christian scriptures, the New Testament. While the Hebrew scriptures form 2/3 of our Bible and cover a period of about 2000 years, the New Testament, the last 1/3 of our Bible, covers only about 100…

Scripture: Sirach 5:9-12; James 1:19-26 Introduction to scripture: I have been preaching through the Hebrew Scriptures and the historical periods of the Jewish people, and before we turn to the New Testament next week, I want to look briefly at a genre of biblical writings that don’t fit easily into a historical category and that is the genre of Wisdom writings. The biblical wisdom writings are those writings that are less concerned about sweeping theological arguments or historical events and…

Scripture: Job 12:7-8 Tomorrow, October 4th, is the Feast of Saint Francis in the Catholic Church and so today around the globe many churches are participating in the ceremony of the Blessing of the Animals dedicated to his memory. St. Francis is one of those cross-over saints who has become popular among Protestants as well as Catholics because of his dedication to the other creatures with whom we share this planet. Born in Italy in 1181, Francis renounced his wealth…

Scripture: Daniel 1; Zechariah 7:4-10 IntroductionI have been preaching through the historical periods of the Hebrew scriptures discussing the lessons that we can learn from each of them. To review: we heard about the call of Abraham and Sarah to follow a God who can accomplish what seems to our human minds to be impossible. We listened to the story of the Exodus and God’s assurance that God knows our suffering. Through the period of the Judges, and the story…

Scripture: Daniel 3:1-30 A couple of weeks ago, I gave the ceremonial prayers at Alfred University’s convocation. As the platform party waited to process, I watched the flock of incoming students shuffle by us to take their seats and noted, as I do every year, how awkward and self-conscious they all seemed. There wasn’t much chatter in their straggled lines and many faces were strained with anxiety, their postures tight and insecure. Most of them had only bid their parents…