Most weeks, our worship leader offers a 15–20 minute sermon based on the Scripture texts for the day.
Our regular preacher is pretty versatile. She’ll tell stories, pull together different ideas, lead a meditation, give the congregation an “assignment” to talk about in twos or threes, show a slide show or video, or sometimes even sing to the congregation. The sermon functions to deepen our reflection on the Scripture themes of the day, and often leaves us with a challenge or a question.
Scripture texts are outlined in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Sin is not what it used to be
It’s the first Sunday in Lent, and Rev. Cari begins a new series today on Sin and Salvation… so guess where she starts? At Sin. Her texts are Romans 7:14-25, Paul’s quintessential reflection on what we might call “the human condition” and Matthew 4:1-11, the story of Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness. Listeners will have…
Presence in the Present
Hosting a beautiful combination of texts today, from Isaiah 40:21-31 and Mark 1:29-39, Rev. Cari took the opportunity for a word of encouragement in the midst of the second wave of COVID-19. Jesus’ movement through his day, in the text from Mark, as well as the Isaiah text, both offer witness that staying grounded in…
“What is This?”
For the fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari carries on where the text left off last week… in Mark 1:21-28. This story of Jesus’ encounter with a person with an “unclean spirit” is definitely a visit from a distant time and culture. So how do we receive it as authoritative text, yet not necessarily literal…
Jesus: Interruption or Disruption?
For the third Sunday after Epiphany, Rev. Cari’s sermon touched on both I Corinthians 7:29-31 and Mark 1:14-20. She was playing with the pandemic “categories” of interruption and disruption, and recalled the graphic the Rev. David Robertson introduced to Crossroads in the spring. (The image is attached as a pdf.) Then she moved to a…
An Apophatic Journey
This Sunday, for the annual visit to Crossroads by a student from the Vancouver School of Theology, Crossroads welcomes fourth year M.Div. student Cathy Merchant. Cathy is a Buddhist studying at a Christian seminary, and her calling is to Interfaith ministry. Cathy reflects with the Crossroads congregation on Psalm 139, hearing it with the ears…
Beginning
For the Baptism of Jesus, Rev. Cari holds the events of January 6 at the US Capitol, Genesis 1:1-5 and Mark 1:4-11, and asks the questions, “How do we begin to move in the same direction together?” and “How do people change their minds and hearts?” Beyond characterizations of the “dark” as a fearful place,…
Revealed
For Epiphany Sunday, Rev. Cari jumps off from the story found in Matthew 2:1-12 about the visitors from the East. She pretty quickly diverts into an exploration of the similarities between the Magi, Severus Snape (from the Harry Potter books and movies) and Jean Valjean (from Les Miserables). In doing so, she reveals that sometimes, the complex…
The Mystery of the Incarnation
For Christmas Eve, Rev. Cari reflects with the congregation about the Mystery of the Incarnation. Quoting Father Richard Rohr, the American Franciscan spiritual teacher, she opens up the meaning of Jesus as both divine and human, “in the same body, at the same time.” This solidarity of God with humanity is not a matter for…
Becoming God-Bearers
Rev. Cari’s sermon for the fourth Sunday in Advent, is on the Annunciation: Luke 1:26-38. She starts with a poem by Brian Andreas, called “Different Plans,” and identifies how it’s easy to relate to the sense that life has taken a turn to the unanticipated, these days. Whatever plans Mary might have had for her…
The Anointing
The sermon for the third Sunday in Advent was on Isaiah 61:1-4,8-11, a text that reads at first like a to-do list. “Preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, heal broken hearts…” But it starts with the anointing of the Holy Spirit of Exalted God. So that means these movements toward…