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 Water Mark of God’s Presence
For this third Sunday in Creation Time, Rev. Cari opened up with the question from Exodus 17:1-7: “Is Our God with us or not?” then turned to the Philippians text (2:1-13) to answer it. Thanks to her summer school course at VST with Dr. Cynthia Rigby, Cari opened up the doctrine of the Incarnation, exploring…
The Longing
For the second Sunday in Creation Time, Rev. Cari jumps to the Hebrew Bible, to the ongoing story of the Exodus. She preaches today on a very timely text, Exodus 16:2-15, which starts with a major “whine-fest” on the part of the people of Israel. And of course, before she can go any further, Cari…
Christian Freedom
For the first Sunday in the fall season of “Creation Time,” Rev. Cari preached on Romans 14:1-12, a text full of Paul’s observations about the diversity (of menu, of practice) in the early Christian church. Of course, that diversity is still with us! Paul masterfully avoids “taking a side” in any of the differences he…
Faith and Works — What Saves Us?
Holding Romans 4:20 to 5:5 in one hand and James 2:14-24 in the other, Rev. Cari answers the second Stump the Preacher request in today’s sermon. She digs into all the Hebrew and Greek words behind the English word “justification” to show how God’s purpose is the healing and renewal of all creation. If you…
Sacrificial Love
Rev. Cari returned to Crossroads for a “Stump the Preacher” topic, in which the requester had asked, “What does the Hebrew Bible have to say about sacrificial love? What does Jesus say about it?” This sermon is her response. Referring to both Amos 5:18-24 and John 21:15-19, Rev. Cari takes a bit of a unique…
Transformed
In Romans 12:1-8 Paul reminds the followers of Jesus that they are not be be following the ways of the world but rather are called to share their gifts and follow the ways of Jesus. Are we showing up, sharing our gifts and seeking daily to live in the way Jesus showed us?
Was Jesus a Racist?
“What? How can you say Jesus was racist?”, you may ask. Jesus’ humanity shines through in our gospel story for today, Matthew 15:10-28, as he shuns an indigenous Canaanite woman, calling her a dog, whereupon she challenges him and his eyes are opened: Jesus confronts his racism and becomes an anti-racist. How can we as…
Walking in the Storm
Mattthew’s gospel reminds us that Jesus appears by walking on water towards the disciples during a stormy night on the water. What storms do you wade through? How does God meet you in the eye of the storm? Where might you look for God?
Limping in the Daylight
Edith preached from one of her favourite texts, Genesis 32:22-31, the story of Jacob wrestling with Someone at the Jabbaok River. Jacob had always managed to trick or buy his way to get what he wanted. But when a stranger lunged on him in the dark and pulled him into the river, he more than…
Save Us and Deliver Us
For this final Sunday in the series on the Prayer of Jesus, Rev. Cari focussed on two texts from the Gospel of Matthew: the story of Jesus’ temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11) and a few words from the moment in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-41). Both these texts illustrate the concept of (not)…