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.
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…
Beginning in the Wilderness
For the second Sunday in Advent, Rev. Cari reflects with the congregation on Isaiah 40:1-11, with its comforting opening message, and Mark 1:1-8, with its more abrupt beginning. Both texts take us into the wilderness, that place of danger, wildness, and uncertainty. We find ourselves in the wilderness with John the Baptist, even before we…
Good Religion
For Reign of Christ Sunday, Rev. Cari preached on one of the parables of judgment, as found at Matthew 25:31-45. This “sorting” of the sheep and the goats by the Chosen One on the throne is an iconic text. It can invite “religious” folks into a self-congratulatory mode that is ultimately not very helpful for…
Faith, Love, Hope
For our final Sunday of our Stewardship Season, focussed on God’s gift of “a future with hope,” Rev. Cari preached on 1 Thessalonians 1:1-7. This earliest greeting of the epistles in the New Testament contains Paul’s first “go” at the three theological virtues. Relying on the work of the Rev. Dr. Rodger Nishioka, whose presentation…
Lift the Lamp of Hope
For the third Sunday in the season of Stewardship, Rev. Cari offered this reflection on the parable of the 10 Attendants waiting for the bridal party. The story is found in Matthew 25:1-13, and it is a challenging and tricky parable to interpret! So in addition to identifying the two major pinches of this parable,…
Blessed
For the second Sunday in our Stewardship Season (and also All Saints Sunday) Rev. Cari preached on the Beatitudes. She preached against the expectation that this text is somehow, like the 10 Commandments, “rules for living.” In fact, these descriptions of what “blessed” looks like are just that: descriptions of the way the world actually…
A Future With Hope
For the first Sunday in our fall “Stewardship Season” Rev. Cari preaches on Jeremiah 29:1-14. This is the text our stewardship theme verse is from: “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says Our God, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope.” v. 11 In…