Sermons

November 4, 2012

I've thought on and off for years about the Kingdom of God on earth and how to bring it about. As a teenage acolyte in the Episcopal Church I remember thinking, "We don't practice what we preach". It seems like ever since I've been trying to find the way to practice true religion, real Christianity, how to truly follow Jesus. Recently, my search has led me to investigate healing prayer, a subject I felt had been neglected by the church and by followers of Jesus. I have twice reported my findings here, my experiences and what I have come to believe about healing prayer. Briefly, I have come to believe that Jesus was convinced that his disciples could heal if they believed and I didn't see why that was not true today. So, I proceeded on that premise. After studying Jesus' healings and reading several books on modern day healers and experimenting with prayers for personal healing with several significant successes, I have centered on several basic truths:

October 28, 2012

Joe Collier's portion

Gal. 5:13-15

13  For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

            I am delighted to introduce my fellow teacher and preacher, Dee Dee Parker Wright. Dee Dee has been the Executive Director of Jubilee JumpStart for one and three-quarters years, though it probably feels like 16. She comes to us from Oklahoma via Houston, so she brings knowledge of the heartland and of the challenging culture of Texas. She grew up in the MYF – Methodist Youth Fellowship – as I did, and we share its nurturing spirit and commitment to justice. She is an amazing gift to us.

September 30, 2012

When I realized what the scriptures were for this day that I picked to give the teaching, I thought, oh, man. I picked a doozie. But upon further thought, I figured why not try to unpack this reading from Mark a little.  

So, what on earth is going on here?  If it causes you to sin, cut off your hand, cut off your foot, pluck out your eye.  Good grief, Jesus, what are you talking about? This sounds crazy to us. I’m pretty sure it also sounded even more nutso to the original audience. Jesus was talking to his Apostles, a bunch of manual laborers who can’t live without the work of their hands, their feet, the utility of their eyes.  For medical care, they have access to their friend Jesus, but that’s about it. And possibly most importantly for context here, it is against Jewish law to maim yourself. Anybody who would do this to himself would risk being forbidden from the Temple all together. We churchy people who have heard these lines dozens of time and may cringe and try not to think about this very much, but I tell you, this sounds downright bananas to the original listeners.  

So what the heck is he talking about here?  

September 9, 2012

Texts:
Is 35: 4, 6-7a
Is 5: 8-9, 20, 25

The book of Isaiah was written in the midst of the seemingly endless suffering of Babylonian captivity, yet parts of it are beautiful and uplifting poems of God’s care. 

Say to those who are of a fearful heart
“Be strong, do not fear!

…

For waters shall break forth in the wilderness,
and streams in the desert;

The burning sand shall become a pool
and the thirsty ground springs of water;

But then parts of it are not so uplifting.

The anger of the Lord was kindled against his people,
and he stretched out his hand against them and struck them;
the mountains quaked,

And their corpses were like
refuse in the streets

For all his anger has not turned away. 

“Corpses in the streets.”  Hmm? 

September 2, 2012

Texts: 

Mark 7:1-23.
James 1:17-27
Psalm15:1-3 

The artist Georgia O’Keefe once wrote that ‘it takes time to see a flower, like having a friend takes time.’1 I love this perception of hers for its suggestive coupling of the ability to see and the ability to have a friend--to love—and thetime requiredto take in the being of the ‘other’, whether flower or friend. This wisdom from O’Keefe will serve as the touchstone for my comments today, which also circle around the theme of truth and love.

I must say I’m grateful for this opportunity, for some selfish reasons.  As soon as I was confirmed as teacher for today, then the clock was ticking for the preparation of a teaching, and meeting a certain deadline for this commitment then required me to enter into a deeper dialogue with myself, and, in fact, with you—my soon-to-be listeners.

August 26, 2012

Text: Romans 5:1-5; 8:35-39

We live in troubled times. Does it seem like the world is a much darker place than ever before in our lives? Well, it probably depends on how old you are. My guess is that for some of you the darkest of days was during WWII. The difference between then and now is that everyone in the country was on the same page: we had to defeat Japan and Germany. Today's darkness is perhaps more insidious because we are living in a country that disagrees with itself about fundamental things: how best to take care of the poor; how to structure our education system; what to do about the environment; the benefits of capitalism; and even the truth within Christianity. It is a confusing time. Unfortunately, we have a 24-hour news cycle documenting every misstep and mis-statement, and failing to report the goodness and sacrifice that many display every day.

What are we to do?

August 12, 1012

Scriptures:
1 Kings19:4-8
Ps 34:1-8
Gospel: Jn 6:35,41-51S:
Eph 4: 25-5:2

1 Kings 19:4-8

19:4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors."

19:5 Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, "Get up and eat."

19:6 He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.

19:7 The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, "Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you."

19:8 He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.

July 15, 2012

Texts:Exodus 16:2-15, Psalms 85:8-13

In the reading we heard from Exodus this morning, the Israelites have come through the parted sea and begin their journeys in the desert.And how did these folks eat and sustain themselves during their journey in the wilderness? The Bible says that God made manna appear, some kind of fluffy white food that came out of the sky.

The Israelites got two moral lessons along with this food service from the sky: First, you could only take as much as you needed for one day; if you took more than you needed, the manna spoiled.And second, you could take two portions on Fridays, so that you had enough to eat during the Sabbath. The manna which ordinarily wouldn’t keep for more than one day did keep on the Sabbath, so that the Israelites could eat without collecting on the day of rest.

July 8, 2012

Good morning everyone.  This morning I wanted to share with you my reflections of the past year.  My discoveries, my failures and triumphs are on full display today.  This being my first sermon, they may be displayed verbally as well.

Before I re-accepted Christ in my life, joined Church of the Saviour (COS) and the Discipleship Year program (DY) my life was a stagnant shell of what it could be.  I was working, partying, idling but there was no spiritual growth whatsoever.  That lack of spiritual growth left a gaping hole that led to deep bouts of depression.  I believed in Christ, but I felt Christ did not believe in me, I felt those that believed in Christ were hypocrites, that everyone wanted to be Jesus, but no one actually wanted to put forth the work, the effort and endure the pain that Jesus gladly accepted on our behalf.   So I adopted these codes that I would live my life by.  Honor thy father, treat others fairly, work hard, no drug use, and etc.; Superficial edicts that I had come up with to govern my activities.  I created an idol to grow into. 

June 17, 2012

The title of my sharing this morning is “Being a Mustard Seed”.  But before I explain to you what I mean by that, I’d like to tell you a story when I was a young girl.

In the summer, when growing up (probably between when I was 9 and 11), I would play kickball in the back yard of our house in Xenia, Ohio with my brother, David almost every day.  David was a year older than I was.  He was a natural athlete with the speed and grace of a gazelle.  He became famous one year when he was playing little league baseball because he caught a fly ball, winning the game, even though his hat had fallen down over his eyes and he couldn’t see a thing.  He could hit, catch or dodge a ball -- anything.  I, on the other hand, would say that I played with the speed and grace of something more like an armadillo.  According to Wikipedia, “Armadillos have short legs, but can move quite quickly.”  But not as quickly as a gazelle.