November 22, 2015, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching
Today’s gospel reading is out of context from what we have been hearing in recent weeks and from what we will be hearing as Advent begins next Sunday. It is from the end of John and is a conversation between Jesus and Pilate. The reason we are hearing this today is because this Sunday marks the Feast of Christ as King, even though the text clearly shows that Jesus is not any kind of earthly king.
November 18, 2015, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching about Hilda of Whitby.
October 11, 2015, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr.
You see, church is meant to be a stepstool that we get on to look over the walls of our influence into the greater expanse of the Kingdom of God. And when we are up on that stepstool, we set our money on the wall. And then we put our hands on that wall, we fill our lungs with the air that God gave us to breathe, and we shout, “THANK YOU.” Then we scatter that money off the wall to the other side. For Jesus money was not about influence or impact. It was just another way for us to be in relationship with God. And within the church, it became an easy way for us to express our gratitude. And this kind of gratitude has a name in the church: it is tithing.
September 30, 2015, Kevin Mesher preaching
Here’s my take away: The book of Jonah shows me that there exists in each and every person—and their animals, apparently—a latent potential to connect to some kind of “source” regardless of your or my personal conception of what that should look like or for whom you or I think is worthy of it. For aren’t we “all members one of another” (Eph. 4:25)? How absurd of me to think that I can apply limits to God’s mercy. How strange I would rue your homecoming!
September 27, 2015, The Rev. Kate Wesch preaching
The entire story of Esther–it’s a weird one!
September 23, 2015, George Moberly preaching
What can we do to call God to demonstrate his presence through us into a world that so needs us to return peace for violence, love for hate. Who knows what will grow from God’s love we bestow and release into God’s world?
September 20, 2015, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr.
Self-preservation is no longer bound by the edge of death. It’s reformulated into an eternal pattern of service to others, through Jesus, for God. And this can happen in so many ways, in as many ways as there are configurations of relationship. If someone is next to you or even near to you, you can serve them. No occupation is exempt from being an “occupation of service.”
August 30, 2015, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr. preaching
There was a social scientist named Rene Girard who was interested in human violence. He developed a theory called Mimetic desire, which is defined this way: “What you have, I want, because you have it.” A strong variant of this is sibling rivalry, which brings us back to our story today. The two sons of Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Esau, are locked in Mimetic desire.
August 23, 2015, The Rev. Doyt L. Conn, Jr., preaching
Blood is sort of an uncomfortable topic. It makes us wiggle in our seats, but the reality is that in the church blood is an underlying theme that runs through our worship. We talk about the body and blood of Christ. So today I’d like to do some teaching on the blood, and the mighty men of David are a good place to start; they give some Jewish context.