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.
Jesus’ Reign of Truth
This morning we celebrated the Reign of Christ – the final Sunday in the Christian year – by welcoming new members of Crossroads. The sermon text was John 18:33-38, part of Jesus’ trial before Pilate in which the two of them verbally dance around the question of who is king. It just so happens…
God’s Love
Our children preached a very tight, very to-the-point sermon this morning, on the texts of Psalm 136 and Micah 6:8. Listen for the word of God in their reflections on the love of God for the world and all of us, and how we can respond.
The Absent God Who Outlasts it All
Today was Remembrance Day, and so as part of our worship, we observed a liturgy of remembrance. Rev. Cari opened the sermon just before 11 am, then we observed the remembrance, followed by the choir’s beautiful anthem (which Cari introduced in the sermon). Then she resumed the sermon. The text was Psalm 146, a psalm…
On Giving All of Me
On this fourth Sunday of our Stewardship Season, Rev. Cari takes on Mark 12:28-34: the story of the scholar who asks Jesus what the “foremost commandment” is. Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy “Love God” and Leviticus “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Rev. Cari takes the opportunity her own recent injury has afforded her, to be her…
On What You Want Jesus to do for You
We’re following in the Gospel of Mark, through this season of Stewardship, “Made for Giving.” Today’s text is Mark 10:46-52, the story of the healing of blind Bartimaeus. How is this a stewardship story? There’s no mention of money, but currencies of relationship, truth and well-being are exchanged. Not only does one marginalized (and scolded)…
On Downward Mobility: Down is the New Up!
In Mark 10:35-45, James and John command Jesus, ““See to it that we sit next to you, one at your right and one at your left, when you come into your glory.” Jesus responds in a curious way. Can James and John drink the same cup as him? Can they be baptized in the same…
On Not Being Possessed by Possessions
Today we entered into a new “season” – and sermon series – on stewardship. “Made for Giving” is our theme, and this first sermon of the series focussed on the Gospel text of Mark 10:17-31. This story of Jesus telling someone to “Go, and sell all you have, then give the money to the poor,”…
A Story About Not Worrying
We worshipped together on Thanksgiving Sunday as an all-ages community, so there was no sermon this morning. After the Scripture reading for the day, Matthew 6:25-34 was shared by Gabrielle (with the children’s help), Rev. Cari told a story. For this story, Rev. Cari is indebted to the Rev. Otis Moss III, the minister at…
Opening to Awe
For the fourth Sunday in “Creation Time” Rev. Cari read selections from the last few chapters of the book of Job. In this text, full of irony, the Holy One invites Job to answer a few questions… In this sermon, Rev. Cari wonders with the congregation about how to find the “sweet spot” between despair…
God’s Boundaries
For Sunday 3 in “Creation Time,” Rev. Cari picked up where she left off the week before, with a look at Leviticus 25:1-12, and an approach to “What to do” about climate change. There is no evidence that Israel ever practiced the guidelines regarding the sabbatical year and the jubilee year… But this articulation of…