Sermons
A Test of Compassion
Epiphany You may have noticed some changes when you walked into church this morning. The most obvious are the two stars on display – one in the back of the church hanging over the baptismal font, and the other on the beautiful banner hanging in front of the church....
This Good Earth
Christmas 2018 It is good to be gathered here with you on my favorite night of the year, the night that we celebrate the birth of a baby who will change the world. Everything about this evening is special – the music that our choirs and instrumentalists have practiced...
Blessed Are They
Advent 4C I read a column in The New York Times this week about the phenomonon of on-line churches. The author was not talking about churches that live stream services for members who are not physically able to come to church. Instead, she was making observations...
Repent and Rejoice
Advent 3C 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. One of these things just...
Surprised by God
Advent 2C We hear today from the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, the gospel that gives us the most beloved stories of Jesus’ birth – the angel’s visit to Mary announcing she will have a son, Mary’s beautiful song of praise in response to that startling news, the...
Beginning at the End
Advent 1C Today is the first day of Advent, the beginning of a new year in the church calendar. We have spent the last six months in what the church calls “ordinary time,” that long period between Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, and the First Sunday of Advent....
Fathers’ Day in America
Proper 6B I recently finished a haunting novel, Before We Were Yours, in which Lisa Wingate tells a fictionalized account of the true story of one of this country’s great scandals, the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and its director, Georgia Tann. From the 1920s...
Love Still Trumps Hate
My sermon today begins with a preamble of sorts. That’s not the usual way to begin, but this has not been a usual kind of week. I’ve been preaching for well over two decades now. I’ve preached in many difficult situations – after natural disasters here and around the...