Spirituality

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March 2018

“Mark’s Jesus: 4. The Reformer” Rev. Rodger Allen/Mk. 7:1-23; Isaiah 1:11-17; Amos 5:21-24/3-18-18

By |March 26th, 2018|Sermons|

It’s difficult,  at least for those of us who have looked into church history at all, to think of the word “reform” without thinking of the capital-R “Reformation,” that 16th-century movement initiated by Martin Luther and a few others which resulted in the birth of the Protestant Church. Many of you have heard the story: [...]

“Mark’s Jesus: 1. The Teacher” Rev. Rodger Allen/Mk. 1:9-15, 22; Mk. 4: 26-33, 2-25-18

By |March 8th, 2018|Sermons|

The name of the sermon series we begin today, and which will carry us through the rest of the season of Lent, is “Mark’s Jesus.” Mark apostrophe-s Jesus. Now this isn’t the type of apostrophe-s that denotes ownership, like Virginia’s car or Steve’s house or Mellie’s backpack. Mark doesn’t’ own Jesus. Neither is it the type of apostrophe-s  that implies creation, like Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony or Monet’s Water Lilies. Mark didn’t create Jesus. It’s not even the apostrophe-s that indicates a family relationship, like Jeff’s wife or Vicky’s daughters. Instead, this is an apostrophe-s that signifies a particular telling or version: this is Mark’s version of Jesus’ life, Mark’s biography of Jesus. Most of us have at least some experience with biographies, the story of real people’s lives. The TV show “Biography,” I heard, was for years the most popular program on its cable network, telling the story of a different person’s life every weeknight. People who become suddenly famous get featured in rush-to-market paperback biographies—we’ll probably see in stores soon the life stories of Olympians Chloe Kim or Mikaela Shiffrin. And we all, I’ll bet, some time in our school careers, had to do a book report on a biography: what did we learn about the life of Abraham Lincoln, or Thomas Edison, or Harriet Tubman. […]

November 2017

“Are We Amazed?” 11/5/17 Scripture: Mt 22:15-22; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10; Ps 24 (selected verses) by Rev. Laurie Williams

By |November 15th, 2017|Sermons|

          The Rev. Jill Duffield, editor of the Christian Magazine The Outlook, tells the story of a man, many years older than she was in her mid-twenties at the time, who came into the affluent church where she pastored in the early years of her ministry, and asked for assistance.  Certainly, in her experience, as well as mine and Rodger’s, asking for assistance is almost always indistinguishable from asking for money.  She took him through the richly appointed hallways into her beautiful office laden with theological tomes and expensive furniture.  She went to sit in her comfy chair behind the desk while he sat on the stiff, formal couch across the room from her desk. […]

May 2017

“LifeStyle or Life of Substance” 4/30/17 Scripture: 1 Peter 13-14, 18-25a; Acts 2:14a, 36-47 by Rev. Laurie Williams

By |May 1st, 2017|Sermons|

         As you know, we are in the Easter Season which runs until Pentecost Sunday in early June.  Easter is not simply one celebratory day out of our Christian calendar; it is an entire season of the church year.  We could even proclaim that our celebration of resurrected life, a new life in Jesus Christ [...]

December 2016

“Nahum: Responding to Evil” Nahum 1:1-3; 2:1, 8-13; 3:18-19; Matt. 5:43-45 & Rom. 12: 14-21 10-23-16 Rev. Rodger Allen

By |December 14th, 2016|Sermons|

           It’s been a little while since we checked in with an Old Testament prophet. Rev. Laurie and I have been following, on some Sundays since July, the suggestion of the Old Testament Lectionary that we take a look at the prophets and what their words mean to us today. The Old Testament prophets spoke [...]