December 25, 2014, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching
And now, in these post-solstice days of winter, as we begin to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, I challenge you to ponder the mysterious impossibility of the incarnation, the birth of Christ AND look for the joy. Where do you find God’s joy in your life?
December 21, 2014, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching
Ten years ago, I was in the middle of my seminary education. I was studying theology and hermeneutics, singing in the choir, and washing dishes in the refectory for minimum wage. We gathered in the chapel every day at noon for worship, students, faculty, and staff praying together as a community. Also during that time, I was struggling to work out issues of faith, personal belief, and conviction.
August 17, 2014, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching
Today’s sermon is about Mary and Elizabeth, cousins who both bore sons who would change the world.
July 13, 2014, The Rev. Doyt Conn preaching
Today’s sermon is about gifts and how we receive them. We might think it is easy. “Yeah, thanks for the gift.” And maybe it is, but I can’t help wondering: with so much universal access to whatever we want, whenever we want it, the way we want it, have we lost sight of the blessing of how to receive a gift and the way in which gifts magnify our souls?
January 5, 2014, Diana Bender preaching
Even in our darkest moments even in our driest spells, these facts remain true: God does love us, God does forgive us, God empowers us, God will never leave us – in fact nothing can separate us from the love of God, even our darkest fear.
December 24, 2013, The Rev. Doyt Conn preaching
My family doesn’t listen to Amahl and the Night Visitors. It is not a tradition I have maintained and that makes me a little sad. But rituals change. They come to life for a time to bring constancy against which we can be changed. That is the power of ritual. It stays the same so we can become more and more the person God created us to be. The rituals change as relationships ebb and flow, save one, the one we celebrate tonight.
August 25, 2013, Charissa Bradstreet preaching
She is deeply stooped over, bent nearly in half, and she has walked through life this way for 18 years. Imagine her experience of the world. What has her posture made her unable to see and experience as others do? What facial expressions has she missed? What views of the world have escaped her?
January 6, 2013, The Rev Doyt Conn preaching
We had a “name it and claim it” Christmas this year. I wanted a watch. I named it and low in behold, Christmas morning I claimed it. Kristin wanted a stethoscope. She named it and claimed it Christmas day. Margaret wanted an iPhone. She was more careful and circumspect, but she named it and claimed it. And Desmond was less circumspect. He wanted an iTouch, and he named it, and he named it again. And you guessed it, he claimed it Christmas morning.
December 25, 2012 The Rev Doyt Conn preaching
Merry Christmas. It seems we are the group that got up and got our presents opened this morning and now are ready for church. This is a nice service; small and quiet, as we gather here to consider the child born in the manger who changed our world