LOVE

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May 2018

“Can Anyone Withhold the Water?” Rev. Rodger Allen Acts 8:26-40; Acts 10:23b-28, 34-36, 44-48 4-29-18

By |May 29th, 2018|Sermons|

  Our first Scripture lesson this morning was a complete story in itself; you heard the beginning, the middle, and the end—the story has no other verses before or after: Philip, one of the seven first deacons of the church, appointed in the sixth chapter of Acts, was called by God to go to a road south of Jerusalem. There he met a man from Ethiopia, a eunuch, who was reading Old Testament scripture and looking for someone to explain it to him. Philip obliged, the Ethiopian professed his faith, and Philip baptized him into the early Christian church. A complete story. […]

March 2018

“Mark’s Jesus: 2. The Healer” Rev. Rodger Allen/ Mk. 2: 1-12; Mark 5: 21-42, 3-4-18

By |March 8th, 2018|Sermons|

              Today we continue our Lenten worship series on the various roles of Jesus, as presented in the Gospel of Mark: What does Jesus do in his ministry? What does he consider most important? Last Sunday we looked at “Jesus the Teacher,” discovering that teaching was one of Jesus’ first priorities, and discussing what his teachings were, to whom he delivered them, and how. In future weeks we’ll consider such themes as “Jesus the Reformer,” and “Savior,” and “Victor.” And today we consider Jesus the Healer. There are many healings in the Gospel of Mark; what does he wish us to learn from them? Why does he present them? Why does he present the ones he does, and not others? What do they mean? […]

“Joy and Laughter Comes from the Divine” 2/18/18 Scripture: Gen 18:1-4, 9-15; Proverbs selected passages on love, joy, laughter/by Rev. Laurie Williams

By |March 8th, 2018|Sermons|

          Last week I preached my first sermon of a two-part series about the Theology of Humor.  Its title is “Humor that Is Divine.”  I talked about Ali Kay Wood’s experience of her mother driving them to a wedding with the two-tiered wedding cake on her lap that ended up smashing into the dashboard with icing flying everywhere, when her mother made a turn that was too sharp.  After the initial horror and shock at the situation, they both began to laugh uncontrollably.  Ms. Wood found that laughter cathartic as it freed them from the anxiety over the situation.  She explained that the laughter came from God, deep within her soul.           I mentioned a 2011 University of Oxford study that discovered laughter releases mood-boosting endorphins, increase pain tolerance by as much as 10%, increases blood flow by 22% and protects you against the ill effects of stress.  We heard “a laugh or two a day keeps the doctor away!”  […]

February 2018

“About Stumblers/For Stumblers”/ I Corinthians 8: 1-13/Hebrews 5:11-6:1b/Rev. Rodger Allen/1-21-18

By |February 21st, 2018|Sermons|

The book of I Corinthians is a letter, written by the Apostle Paul back to the new Christian church he had started in the city of Corinth. In much of it, Paul is responding to questions the new Christians of Corinth had written to him: “OK, Paul, you’ve moved on, and now certain situations have come up here that we’re not sure how to handle; how do we deal with these things?” So Paul writes back and advises them. One of the questions they have asked has to do with the large number of temples to other gods in the city of Corinth. The new Christians knew, of course, that there’s only one true God, and that they’re not to participate in the worship of any other, false gods. Their question was: If you to the market and buy and eat meat that came from an animal that had been offered as a sacrifice to one of those false gods at one of those other temples, does that count as “participating in the worship” of that false god? Because that animal meat had been associated with false worship, should it be avoided by a faithful Christian? […]

November 2017

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

By |November 8th, 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. […]