Rev. Cari Copeman-Haynes

For the first Sunday in Lent, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 4:1-11, the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. She preached in the style of the “Spiritual” stream of the Theological Banquet, because the text itself is so consonant with the “Spiritual” themes of prayer, struggle with temptation, inner sorting, and intimacy with God….

For Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday before the season of Lent begins, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 17:1-9. She followed this story of Jesus on the mountaintop with his three disciples, Moses (the Torah) and Elijah (the Nevi’im). She marked the “opaqueness” of Jesus’ identity as “Messiah” to his followers, who certainly wouldn’t be expecting the Messiah…

The fourth sermon in our “Take your faith outside!” series grows out of the text from Matthew 12:1-8. This is a controversy story: a narrative depicting Jesus in a “wrangle” with the Pharisees. Though they are apparently arguing about the disciples picking and eating grain on the Sabbath, as is common in conflict, the issue…

For our third sermon in the “Take Your Faith Outside!” series, Rev. Cari preached on Matthew 10:1-14, the story of the sending of the Apostles to the “lost sheep of Israel.” Jesus’ instructions are precise, and to our 21st Century ears, sometimes a little surprising. Given that Jesus didn’t instruct those first twelve to “get…

The first sermon in the new series, “Take Your Faith Outside!” was in response to Matthew 8:18-27. Rev. Cari jumps off from the often-heard quote about God’s purpose being to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” and this text really contains both! No matter whether you consider yourself “comfortable” or “afflicted” (or have a…

Today we baptized two young souls at Crossroads, and for the sermon, Rev. Cari shared a letter to these two little ones. Her text was Matthew 3:13-16, the story of the Baptism of Jesus, and so she shares thoughts about what baptism means, and how we respond to God’s “I love you” in baptism, with…

For Christmas Eve, Rev. Cari preached on Mr. Rogers… well, she preached about Jesus’ incarnation, but she referred to Fred Rogers: his TV ministry, the movie that recently came out about his relationship with a journalist who was assigned to interview him, and the 2018 documentary that tells his story. Her text was John 1:1-14,…

For the fourth Sunday in Advent, Rev. Cari tackles the thorny question of the “virgin conception” head-on. The texts are Isaiah 7:10-16, and Matthew 1:18-23, and after opening by singing part of a “recitative” from Handel’s Messiah, she launches right in. At issue is the Hebrew word ‘almah, which gets translated into the Koine Greek word parthenos which…

For the third Sunday in Advent, Gaudete (Joy) Sunday, Rev. Cari juggles two texts: Isaiah 35:1-10 and Luke 1:39-45. Advent is a journey through the wilderness, a desolate landscape where it looks like nothing redemptive can happen, but is exactly the place where God is most at work… and Advent is a period of gestation…

For the first Sunday in Advent, Rev. Cari preached on the text Matthew 24:36-44. Part of the little apocalypse of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus offers all kinds of encouragement to the church to stay alert. Part way through the sermon, she breaks into a story (received years ago from her colleague the Rev. Don Collett) and…