Sermons

    Today begins the most sacred week of the Christian year, the week that we walk with Jesus on the path that ends with resurrection, but first goes through betrayal, arrest, torture, and death.     Holy Week, as it is called, begins...

    The cross is looming large before us on the horizon. We are deeply into Lent. At the end of our service next Sunday we will find ourselves at the foot of the cross, watching as Jesus' hands and feet are nailed into the wood, cringing as he is left...

    “There was a man who had two sons.”  Thus begins what is probably the best known of all of Jesus’ stories, usually known as the parable of the prodigal son.     This tale of the son who takes his inheritance, squanders it, then...

It starts out as just an ordinary day. Moses is doing what he always does, leading his father-in-law’s flock to food and water. Tending someone else’s herd isn’t much of a job – in fact it is work usually given to women and children.     But Moses...

    The promise was  outrageous from the beginning. Abraham is an old man, 75 years old. His wife Sarah is 65. They have no children, and at their age, no hope of having any. They are nomadic people with no land to call their own....

    The devil led Jesus up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then,...

    On the top of a mountain,  Jesus kneels in prayer as his friends struggle to stay awake.  As he prays, Jesus is suddenly filled with radiant light, his very face aglow.  Then two figures from another time and place appear, ...

    Have you ever picked up a book, opened it about three-fourths of the way through and started reading it? You don't know the characters, the plot, the context. Even if you can tell that something important is happening it doesn't quite make...

    When I was young, one of my favorite books was Pollyanna, the story of a girl who is orphaned at a young age, and sent to live with a wealthy, but austere and stern aunt in a distant part of the country.     Pollyanna had never met...

    I wonder how many of you have been to the ordination of a priest? It is an impressive service. Most churches pull out all the stops -- the best of the best music, beautiful flowers in abundance, often incense. The procession includes all the clergy...

    “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”     When you heard that passage read a few moments ago, did you look around for the wedding couple?    ...

            How wonderful it is to be here this evening with all of you. This is the first time in two years that we have been able to pull out all the stops and celebrate a major feast day of the Church as...

    If we have learned anything in the past 20 months of pandemic it is that human beings need community. Isolation may be okay for a little while, but soon we are longing for contact with other people, to be with friends and family.    ...

    When I looked at the scripture readings for this week I was reminded of a game from Sesame Street. Four objects would be shown on the screen while one of the characters sang these words:     “One of these things is not like the other....

    Let me be the first to wish you a happy new year today.      That’s right. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of a new year in the church calendar.      And as always, we begin with a paradox....