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 Widow’s Might
Today, for our Season of Stewardship Commitment Sunday, Rev. Cari preached on Luke 20:45 – 21:7. This was an interesting combination of words from Jesus: first, about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day; second, about the vulnerability of the faithful to the corruption of the Temple system; and finally, about how it…
Zacchaeus
For the third Sunday in our Stewardship season, Major the Rev. Jim Short preached on Luke 19:1-10, which is the story of Zacchaeus. After referencing last week’s sermon (and the quote from Fr. Richard Rohr about merit) Jim leads us through the text, weaving his way with quotes from Sunday School era songs of his…
The Jesus Earthquake
Today Rev. Cari picked up from Luke’s Gospel right where she left off last Sunday. The text was another parable, that of the Pharisee & tax collector, at Luke 18:9-16. The thing about parables is that they tend to shake us up a bit… so Rev. Cari told a story on herself, to begin this…
Persistence
Rev. Cari preached, for the first Sunday in our Stewardship season, on Luke 18:1-8. This is a story that is not (at first glance) really about stewardship. In fact it seems to be about a lot of thing: persisting in prayer, not losing heart, persisting in seeking after justice, and even, by the end, persisting…
Help… Thanks… Wow!
For Thanksgiving Sunday, Rev. Cari preached on the story in Luke 17:11-19 about Jesus’ encounter with 10 “lepers.” She framed the story itself thanks to Anne Lamott, whose book Help, Thanks, Wow! describes three essential ways we humans approach God. Rev. Cari begins with a question: “How easy is it for you to ask for…
Not Ashamed to Hope
After preaching for two weeks in the prophet Jeremiah, Rev. Cari turns to the Christian Scriptures, to the first verses of 2 Timothy. Today’s text offers another opportunity to remember what keeps us going in tough times, and to set our hope in God. She explores the function of memory – putting things together that…
Right of Redemption
This week Rev. Cari entered into the long prophetic career of Jeremiah at another point (Jeremiah 32:1-3a, 6-15) from last week, when Jeremiah has been placed under house arrest by the ruler of Judah, Zedekiah, because of his doom and gloom message. The City of Jerusalem is under seige by the Babylonians, and sure…
“Good Grief”
Rev. Cari invites the congregation into a reflection on the last few years, returning to the topic of the “covid curve” introduced early in the COVID pandemic (see attached image) and wondering where we currently find ourselves on that curve. She then introduces Jeremiah 8:18-9:1, a cry of grief from the heart of the prophet…
Is Taking Care of Myself Selfish?
The final Stump the Preacher request for the summer of 2022 lands on Labour Day weekend, and invites Rev. Cari to reflect upon what Jesus might have had to say about self-love. In particular, in his response to the question, ‘What is the greatest commandment of all?’ in Mark 12:28-34. Along the way, she touches…
Is Heaven a Real Place?
Today Rev. Cari returned from vacation to take up this 7th Stump the Preacher question: Is Heaven a Real Place? Her texts were Psalm 82 and Luke 17:20-25. She opens with a discussion of “heaven” then quickly pivots to the Luke text (which includes within itself a “Stump the Incarnate God” question from the Pharisees…