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.
The True Shepherd and the Other Sheep
The fourth Sunday of the Great Fifty Days of Easter is always “Shepherding Sunday,” so today our texts were Psalm 23, and John 10:11-18. Rev. Cari preached on the text from John, pulling out the Easter themes of 1) making sense of the apparent “failure” of the crucifixion, and 2) recognition of the presence of…
Doubting our Doubts
For the third Sunday of Easter, Rev. Cari preaches on Luke 24:36b-48, the story following that of last Sunday. It is still Easter evening, and the Risen Christ appears to his followers, who still are not expecting to see him, and so don’t recognize him. “Peace be with you,” is his greeting, a greeting that…
The Moment of Recognition
For the Sunday after Easter, Dr. Bruce Harding reflects on the text from Luke 24:13-35, the story of “the road to Emmaus.” He first lifts up the moment of recognition, when the Risen Christ breaks the bread and the two disciples know that it is Jesus with them. Then he notes how early sharing food…
Jesus is going ahead
Preaching on Mark 16:1-8, Rev. Cari opened with a direct acknowledgment of this, our second COVID Easter, amid the brokenness of our world. Then she shared references from two articles she received in her inbox during the week, before fully leaping into the text. When grief lies as heavily upon our flesh as a stone…
Hosanna!
Rev. Cari’s sermon for Palm Sunday was based on the story of Jesus’ “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem, as it is found in Mark 11:1-11. In this sermon, she explodes the notion we have somehow inherited, that “Hosanna” means “Hooray!” and restores its true meaning, which is actually, “Save us!” In the sermon, she doesn’t deny…
Sanctification
For the fifth Sunday in Lent, Rev. Cari preached a combination sermon, starting with Ezekiel 47:1-12 and then incorporating Romans 6:15-23 as well. The surprise in the sermon is that sanctification – a process we typically think of as involving we humans becoming holier, or more like Jesus – in the text from Romans is…
Justification
For the fourth Sunday in Lent, Gabrielle preached on Romans 5:1-11, a text (she says in the sermon) which, when she first read it, made her sigh. So we can be grateful for her second look which produced such an affirming (of grace) and hopeful sermon about God’s action in our lives to mend the…
Amazing Grace
For the second Sunday in Lent, Rev. Cari preached on Grace. The text was Romans 4:1-5 and 13-17, in which Paul discusses Abraham and Sarah. Cari used a translation from her New Testament professor at VST, the late Dr. Lloyd Gaston, which emphasizes the “faithfulness of God” much more than conventional understandings. She also referred…
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…