Sermons from 2022 (Page 3)
The Dangers of Idolatry and How to Avoid Them
Idolatry may sound like an old- fashioned word, but helping people avoid it is one the Bible’s core teachings. Pastor Tom offers an unflinching review of the ways we tend to exchange an unmediated relationship with the indefinable Creator God for relationships with people and things. After looking at how our personal lives and our religious lives tend toward idolatry, he then offers ways we can approach our religious practice that help us avoid the trap of idolatry. – Pastor…
Silenced No More
The enslaved young woman in our story has her gift of seeing the future taken from her without her consent. Like so many people women in the Bible she is unnamed, silenced, and discarded. In the sermon today, Pastor Tom imagines how the story might have unfolded from her perspective and in her voice.
People Change, But You Can’t Change Them
As we ready the story of the Apostle Paul’s radical change (conversion), we will reflect on how to best respond when we feel people we love need to change due to the harm they are doing to themselves or others. There is no simple answer and set of instructions, but it involves setting good boundaries, accepting them for exactly who they are, AND seeing them for who they are called to be.
Easter Sunday Sermon
Happy Easter!
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life: Shouting in Windows and Mirrors
Our Lenten Sermon Series, Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life continues with Pastor Billy’s sermon, Shouting in Windows and Mirrors. Jesus shouts at Lazarus to come forth in John 11:38-53. This is the first time John uses that verb and then he repeats it throughout the passion narrative to contrast Jesus shouting for life and the crowd shouting for death. How can we read the the Bible as both a window and a mirror (also called descriptive/prescriptive reading) and notice ourselves in…
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life: The Gift of Tears
In this short section from the story of Lazarus, Jesus comes down to earth. Breaking from his laser focus on his mission and his message, he falls apart. He break down. He weeps. In doing this, he learns what it means to be human, to be vulnerable, to be broken, and to grieve. He becomes human through his tears. We also can become truly human through ours.
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life
What does Jesus mean when he says “I am the resurrection?” Much more than just an invitation to say a magical formula about Jesus that gets you into heaven. He is inviting us to hold the vision of heaven and bring into into our lives today. It is a resurrection power that can transform us.
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life: Whom do You Love?
In this week’s story, Jesus risks his life by returning to Judea to heal Lazarus, despite the warnings from his disciples. We’ll talk about what motivates us to take risks like that and how we can cultivate that kind of love throughout our lives.
Unbinding Grief, Unbinding Life: Part One
We begin a 5 Sunday series inspired by the story of the Raising of Lazarus. What does Jesus mean when he says Lazarus’ illness is “for the glory of God”? In this sermon Pastor Tom explores both the complexity of grieving and God’s transformative power to create new life from death.
Pass the Baton
We welcomed the Rev. Michael Lynn Moore to our pulpit for a special joint worship with Knox Presbyterian Church. Rev. Moore is the African-American Associate in the Racial Equity and Women’s Ministry at the Presbyterian Mission Agency and is a former pastor at Knox Presbyterian in Baltimore.
Don’t Look it Up!…Look Up!
What does Wordle have to do with the Gospel? Why are Pharisees like Scrabble? John invites us to resist the temptation to decide what Christ can’t do by looking it up in the Bible. Instead Look up and see Christ loose in the world and imagine what Christ can do.
Keep on Gnawing
In John’s gospel, Jesus tells us repeatedly he is the “bread of life,” but how exactly does that work? This Sunday, Pastor Billy will discuss the great bread chapter of John (chapter 6), Passover, manna, feeding the 5,000, and what Jesus’ invitation to carbo-loaded, full life might mean for us today.