Sermon Archives

April 22, 2018

Humbly, Fervently Draw Near

A prayer from Paul to the Church at Ephesus goes something like this: “I pray that you may be given the spirit of wisdom & vision, so that the eyes of your hearts may be illumined, & you will KNOW the Hope to which you have been called.” A prayer from St Francis begins: Almighty, […]

April 15, 2018

The Threat of Resurrection

Imagine that early last week, one of your best friends died. Let’s call her Tilly Jane. When Tilly Jane died, the usual things happened. The attending doctor signed her death certificate. The funeral home sent her body over to Elkhart for cremation. And yesterday afternoon, friends and family gathered from far and wide for Tilly […]

April 1, 2018

Last at the Cross, First at the Tomb

I like to think I’m pretty familiar with the women of the Bible. From Ruth, to Deborah, to Tamar, and even Shiphrah and Puah, I’ve read these stories. I know these stories. I’ve thought a lot about these stories. I like to think that I reference them often. And I know that the Black church […]

March 25, 2018

Wild Peace

I think was in 4th grade when the Cuban Missile Crisis occurred, and I remember vividly overhearing my parents ask each other if this was the beginning of WW3. My heart froze. And after that my fear increased. It was the era when people were building fall-out shelters, and we had regular drills at school […]

March 18, 2018

Talking about LGBTQ Inclusion

This afternoon from 4:00 to 6:00, our congregation begins a formal process to explore the possibility of becoming a more welcoming church to the LGBTQ community. The Spiritual Leadership Team, or SLT, is planning 3 of these Sunday afternoon conversations, one today, one in April, and one in May. No one on the SLT knows […]

March 11, 2018

Wild Courage

Today we are in the wilderness with the people who’ve been liberated! With those who have been FREED … With those whom God has FED everyday for forty years, With those who have been trusting the CLOUD of Presence to be out ahead and lead into the PROMISE. We are here with these who’ve stayed […]

March 4, 2018

Getting Angry with Jesus

I both love and hate being angry. Since the election of our 45th president, I find I spend a disproportionate amount of my time outraged. Since the Me Too movement, I also find I spend a lot of my time outraged. And for every mass shooting that comes into our consciousness every few months or […]

February 25, 2018

Wild Dignity

This week our community made the national news. Floods, water in our houses and businesses… Mess… Distress…for ourselves and our neighbors. We look for a caring community…people who will lift sandbags and help us deal with the muddy situations in life. This week meals have been shared and visits have been made, and we celebrate […]

February 18, 2018

Being Alone with the Alone

Most of us go into the wilderness at some point in our lives, but there are at least two kinds of wilderness experiences. The first kind of wilderness experience is the one most of us do not want. We get divorced, and the divorce is difficult. Our best friend dies, and we mourn for several […]

February 11, 2018

The More of God

In 1975, I climbed a mountain. In actuality it was probably just a big hill, and it was behind our short-term voluntary service unit in San Clemente, California. (We were there to help in the resettlement of the boat people who had escaped from Viet Nam.) That morning I’d read an article encouraging women to […]

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