by Shelly | Dec 24, 2023 | Sermons
Nativity of Our Lord In winter’s deepest night, we welcome the light of the Christ child. Isaiah declares that the light of the long-promised king will illumine the world and bring endless peace and justice. Paul reminds us that the grace of God through Jesus Christ...
by Shelly | Dec 24, 2023 | Sermons
Accepting perplexing Good News God keeps the promise made to David to give him an everlasting throne. The angel tells Mary that God will give David’s throne to her son Jesus. She is perplexed by Gabriel’s greeting and by the news of her coming pregnancy, but she is...
by Shelly | Dec 16, 2023 | Sermons
Preparing for God’s party! 3rd Sunday of Advent “Rejoice always,” begins the reading from 1 Thessalonians. Isaiah and the psalmist make clear that God is turning our mourning into laughter and shouts of joy. “All God’s children got a robe,” go the words of a...
by Shelly | Dec 8, 2023 | Sermons
Remove barriers to bringing God’s kingdom John calls people to repent, to clear the decks, to completely reorder their lives so that nothing gets in the way of the Lord’s coming. The reading from Isaiah gives the context for this radical call: the assurance of...
by Shelly | Nov 30, 2023 | Sermons
Eager for God’s power to burst through Stir up your power, and come! The psalmist’s plea in Psalm 80:2 has become familiar to us in the Advent prayers. Isaiah wants God to rip the heavens open. Both cry out for an apparently distant, angry God to show up, to...
by Shelly | Nov 24, 2023 | Sermons
Christ rules as shepherd to serve and teach On this final Sunday of the church year our gospel is Jesus’ great story of judgment. In the end, the faithful are those who served Christ by ministering to those who are poor, hungry, naked, sick, or estranged. In the first...
