Sermons
A Lenten Prayer
Today is the last Sunday of the season of Epiphany, those weeks between Christmas and the beginning of Lent. Epiphany ends every year with the reading we heard today, the story of the Transfiguration – the ultimate mountaintop experience where...
Have You Not Known?
Today's reading from the prophet Isaiah finds the people of Israel in deep despair, wondering if they've been abandoned by God. The land that God promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the land that God led them to after freeing...
Epiphany 4 – The Rev. Deborah Silver
The Rev. Deborah SilverSt. Dunstan’sJanuary 31, 2021Epiphany 4 There is a car that someone drives around my neighborhood that is covered in bumper stickers. Many of these bumper stickers espouse a liberal cause. Here are some that I especially...
Epiphany 3 – The Rev. Bill Deneke
The Rev. Bill DenekeSt. Dunstan’sJanuary 24, 2021Epiphany 3 Both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospel tell stories of being called to get up and follow where God is leading. In Mark’s account several fishermen were called to follow Jesus who said I...
Epiphany 2 – The Rev. Deborah Silver
The Rev. Deborah SilverSt. Dunstan’sJanuary 17, 2021Epiphany 2 May we, like the prophet Samuel, say, “Speak for your servant is listening.” We stand this morning at a strange juncture in time. On one side, we look back ten days ago to the horrific spectacle that...
They Have No Shame; They Have Forgotten How to Blush
There is a common theme running throughout all three Scripture readings today. Did you notice it? The Holy Spirit appears in each of the lessons. In Genesis we hear that the Spirit, appearing as wind, was with God at the first moment of...
Christmas in the Dark
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness -- on them light has shined." Usually on Christmas Eve preachers don't pay a lot of attention to the first two readings of the evening. Isaiah and...
Jesus’ Birth Announcement
This third Sunday of Advent we light the pink candle on our wreath to symbolize the joy expressed by Mary when she learns she will bear a son who will be the Savior of the world. Mary bursts into song at this unexpected news, the...
Preparing the Way
What do you still need to do to be prepared for Christmas? Do you still have gifts to buy? Decorating to do? Cards to mail? Baking and cooking? Wrapping? There is so much to do between now and December 25. I...
Giving Thanks in 2020
The calendar says today is November 22, but the liturgical calendar says this is the last Sunday after Pentecost, which means it is the last Sunday of the Church year. The regular calendar says we still have almost six weeks left in 2020, but in...
Light in the Darkness
I was about 10 years old when psychic Jean Dixon predicted the exact date of the end of the world. Somehow in those days before the internet and social media the news of this impending doom raced through our fifth grade classroom, both exciting and terrifying us. ...
Who Will We Serve?
"Choose this day whom you will serve." It is a defining moment for the people of Israel. Slavery is behind them, the long years in the wilderness are over, they have at last arrived in that land that God promised to their ancestors Abraham and...
Keeping the Memory Alive
Today is All Saints’ Day, one of the major feast days of the Church, and one of my favorite Sundays of the year. This first day in November is the time that we remember the saints of the church – all of them, those who are important and have their own day on the...
Love God, Vote
Today's gospel reading is one of a string of stories in Matthew where the religious authorities are questioning Jesus, trying to trap him into saying something wrong or heretical. Today it's the turn of a religious leader who is also a lawyer....
An Oasis in the Wilderness
Wow. I could stand here and look at your beautiful masked faces all day. Even though all I can see are eyes and foreheads, I can see your joy in being back together again. And I hope those of you who are watching online also feel a sense...