SERMONS
Sermon 12/22/19: The Walk of Shame (Pr. Craig Mueller)
It is into this messy, vulnerable, unfair, mysterious, and scandalous world Christ comes. Emmanuel, God with us. God with us in the shame and doubt. God with us in the questions and ambivalence. God with us in the disappointments and confusion. God with us in a world or a life that is not turning out how we always thought or hoped it would. Through the imperfect story of Joseph and Mary, and their walk of shame, comes our very salvation and healing.
Sermon 12/15/2019: Superblooms (Pr. Michelle Sevig)
Whether the wilderness we experience is here in the city, or in the burned down yet thriving mountains in Northeast Washington, or the desert blooming in the southwest, or the wilderness life experienced by John the Baptist, in a community of faith and a meal of bread and wine, God’s life-giving spirit is all around us. Look around you. Tell what you see and hear. God is giving us rare signs of super blooms and unexpected surprises along the way.
Sermon 12/7/18: Fires + Repentance (Seminarian Reed Fowler)
In the same way God delights in plants taking root and sprouting from ashes and stumps, God delights in our repentant, transformative growth, and God holds us through the fire as Mary will soon hold a screaming, wonder-filled Christ-child
Sermon 12/8/19: Chaff Set Ablaze (Seminarian Troy Spencer)
We continue our preparations by reflecting, changing, and growing. We look inward and seek the fruitfulness and the fruitlessness. The fruitfulness is gathered in and cherished while the fruitlessness is set ablaze in a love so deep that it cannot be quenched.
Sermon 12/1/19: Wake up, wake up! (Pr. Craig Mueller)
While you wait and watch and wonder,
wake up, wake up.
Christ is coming soon.
Wake up, wake up!
Christ comes this day in bread and wine.
Christ comes this day in community.
Christ comes this day in dark dormant stillness.
Sermon 11/23/19: Remembered (Seminarian Sarah Krolak)
Our stories matter to God. Even when we feel like we are on the cross, we are remembered. Because there is no story that God does not remember. Every mistake, every heartache, every sorrow, every joy, every promise, every epiphany. Remembered. Let this be our story and our song: we are loved and remembered by God.
Sermon 11/24/19: The End and the Beginning (Seminarian Melissa Hrdlicka)
Life keeps moving on. Life in this church, and life outside this church. Even when we feel like we are at the end and there is nowhere to go, when we feel like we cannot possibly begin again. When we feel like we are so deep in the grief of a loved one’s death, or the end of career, or the end of a relationship, or even in the midst of this climate crisis. We feel like we are at the hopeless end. Yet, we remember, by the grace of God and in the reign of Christ, life keeps moving on. There are new beginnings. There is life and resurrection in Christ for all people.
Sermon 11/17/19: How Lovely the Ruins (Pr. Craig Mueller)
It is easy to live with illusions. That we will live forever. That America is greatest country in the history of the world and will always be so. That the shiny and powerful objects we purchase and worship and carry with us constantly will protect us from the heartache of life. From time to time our illusions are shattered and we see reality—both frightening and liberating. Summer’s vibrant greens morph into autumn’s blazing rusts and oranges and reds—this year leading to the onset of an early snow and biting cold this past week. We wonder what is going on and whether we can endure. Yet we find hope in this sacred place. Solace in the poetry of the hymns. Sustenance in the bread and wine. Courage in the words of faith. Inspiration in the music and the silence. Support in the community. And resilience in the presence of Christ here among us. All we need is here—to endure and to persevere.
Sermon 11/16/19: Worshipful Work (Pr. Ben Adams)
There will be times though that this work feels pointless, fruitless, especially when it seems like we are only headed for the end times, or our maybe we feel like our work will never have an end time, and we struggle to sabbath, but even in our most exasperated and exhausted moments we trust that the grace of God covers us all, like a delicious ice cream sundae, no matter our success or failure in life, God’s gives food to all.
Sermon 11/10/19: Full-Bodied Resurrection (Pr. Ben Adams)
Our God is a God not of the dead, but of the living, and through faith we know that our redeemer lives. The resurrection with all of its mystery might not give us the instant gratification of heaven or an immortal soul, but I believe it does more to impact the way we live in our bodies here and now, because we trust and hope that at the last our resurrected whole selves see God. And it’s that full bodied future hope that becomes embodied present love.
Sermon 11/3/19: Saints Who Struggle
Believe me, I know, it doesn’t always feel like a “saintly” life. There is struggle. Martin Luther, in the middle of his reforms said that where there is faith, there is always struggle. And for this struggling saint, that’s good news. Doubt, feeling overwhelmed, wondering if God is out there are the marks of every saint, including my friend Scott from youth group. When we feel our most low, and wonder if we’ve lost our faith, God names us as the most faithful. Blessed are those who struggle.
Sermon 10/27/19: Taking A Stand
Here we stand. Not better than other people, not more or less sinful than other people. Here we stand, with a common human need for grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Justified not by our actions, our works, our good deeds—as important they are. Justified by a God whose power is made known in weakness. Whose love is revealed in suffering. Whose presence is always surprising. Whose image continues to be revealed in those different from us. Whose mercy never ends.
Sermon 10/19/19: The Heart of Persistence (Pr. Brooke Petersen)
We need to be reminded to pray and not lose heart. We get tired, our pleas fall on closed hearts and ears that refuse to listen. We get redirected or told we are too loud or too angry. We get frustrated and we break. We show up to protests and it’s hard to carry our signs and chant our chants anymore. And, so this parable is a reminder to us that it isn’t something lacking within us that we need to get right. We aren’t weak because we feel that the work of justice is hard. We don’t lack faith because we lose heart sometimes. God’s promises to us are written on our hearts, and our God, as persistent as a widow crying out in the street, will stand with us as we cry out to every unjust judge and every unjust system. Our God will join God’s voice with ours as we confront powers that do not fear God and respect no one. Our God will link arms with ours as we call for a world that is better, that is holier, that is full of more goodness, and more peace. Our God doesn’t just know that we cry for justice, our God demands it alongside us.
Sermon 10/20/19: Worn Out (Pr. Craig Mueller)
God is the persistent One who is unrelenting:
desiring your wholeness, but also the healing and well-being of all creation.
When you are worn out, when it is hard to have hope for the future,
when you don’t have the energy to stand up for the widows and marginalized ones in our day and time,
God never gives up. God keeps on.
God’s forgiveness and mercy and grace never run out.
This divine persistence changes your heart,
softens your heart, opens your heart
so that you can get up tomorrow and begin another day.
Sermon 10/12/19: Something's Happening Here
In giving thanks to God by seeking the welfare of even those who attempt to hold us in captivity, we are promised that in that radical act we will find our own welfare. Something happens here when we give thanks by living free even in the face of oppression. Something happens when we look inward and thank God for what new facets of our identity we find. Something happens when we respond to our own healing by running back to God at this table and giving thanks for all that God has done.
Sermon 10/13/19: Borders
Jesus shows up at the borders. Where we build walls or draw lines of division, God dwells and erases anything that divides us and them. The Holy One breaks down barriers that divide and embraces everyone. Jesus hears the cries of all who call out for mercy and heals those who recognize and thank the healer and those who do not.
Sermon 10/6/19: Returning to Real
Being known. It’s almost scary to think about, almost like it feels like being found out, but the truth is that God knows every part of you that you try to hide from the world. Those parts of yourself that you think are unlovable, unredeemable, unmanageable, God knows those parts and blesses them. Self-consciousness may be a weight around each of our necks, but having places to lay that weight down is necessary. So whether its with your pet at home after a long day, or here at church, trust that your real self is who God created you to be, and whenever you allow your real self to be known it’s an act of praise and thanksgiving to God who fearfully and wonderfully made you. It may be the curse of self-consciousness that sets us apart from other animals, but it’s these other animals that set us back to our real selves and reveal who God is to us.
Sermon 10/6/19: Listening to Trees
No manuscript is available for this sermon. Please enjoy listening to it via the audio file provided.
Sermon 10/5/19: All You Need Is All You Got
All the faith you need is all the faith you already got. And as we gather around this table where there is enough for everyone, and when we affirm that in the bread and wine, is the body and blood of Jesus, we affirm that all we need is here. There is no striving, straining, or work that needs to be done to earn this meal. All it takes is for you to take your place and God’s table is prepared, and with open empty hands outstretched, receive the gift of God’s presence.
Sermon 9/28/19: Slaying Demons
We know that the devil’s time is short, and while it isn’t easy to persist in the face of the devil’s wrath we know that St. Michael and all the angels are on our side in the battle. Moreover, God has prevailed through Christ over the forces at work against the purposes God, those demonic, satanic, dragons that are raging everywhere from gun violence, to environmental destruction, to racism, to that voice in your head that tries to convince you that you are not enough. Those forces and the voice of the accuser are coming from a desperate, defeated place, and we through the power of God in Christ can and will overcome those forces and ignore those voices trusting in the victory of Christ.