SERMONS
Sermon 1/31/21: Nothing to do with us? (Pr. Craig Mueller)
What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth.? Everything! At the cross—in suffering—God is revealed! When the demons of injustice try to silence the good news, Jesus comes. When the demons of fear take possession of us, Jesus heals. When the demons of apathy and anger and aggression seize us, Jesus brings peace and reconciliation. When we convulse and resist the new thing that will set us free, Jesus speaks with authority, calling you to become more than you ever imagined.
Sermon 1/23/21: Callback to the Future (Pr. Ben Adams)
Even at the grave of the old order, we wait for God with trust who is doing a new thing. And we not only trust God, but God trusts us and invites us through Jesus to follow and fish for people.
Sermon 1/17/21: Unmute Yourself (Pr. Craig Mueller)
Being muted is weird. I get it. It is a bit humbling. But it reminds us of the holy work of listening. It involves paying attention, slowing down, being present, being open. As a Sufi musician states, listening is “making an altar out of our ears.” So listen. Listen to the voices of others. Listen to the sound of silence. Listen to the God who knows us intimately—who invites us to come and see. And to come and the word of the Lord—words of grace, justice, mercy and forgiveness. Come and follow this one who comes to us as one unknown, yet in flesh and blood, is Savior and Lord.
Sermon 1/16/21: Godly Positioning System (Pr. Ben Adams)
In this moment between stimulus and response we can perceive God calling out to us like God did to Samuel and in this powerful moment we too can say, “Speak Lord for your servant is listening!” The road noise and commotion around us might be pretty distracting and we might miss our exit or our turn, but we can still trust that the moral arc of the universe will bend us back towards justice because each of our Godly positioning systems has a route re-calculator that gets to work whenever we get off track.
Sermon 1/10/21: Kick the Devil in the Pants (Pr. Michelle Sevig)
Will you live out your baptismal calling and say no to all that defiles God? Say NO to white supremacy and it’s demonic legacy in our country? Say NO to serving self above all else? Say NO to unjust systems that benefit one group of people at the expense of others? Say NO to abuse of self, others and our planet? Say NO to empty promises and complicity? This day, every day, boldly shout a strong NO to all that destroys and deceives, and turn toward the Holy One’s YES that proclaims, “You are beloved of God.”
Christmas/Epiphany Festival 2021
The liturgy on January 3, 2021 did not include a sermon, rather, it was a telling of the Christmas/Epiphany story by several youth group members with carols and choral music of the season.
Sermon 1/2/21: Welcome Home (Beau Surratt)
The Word is made flesh. All earth rejoices. Heaven and nature sing. God has come to dwell with us, to make us people of God, to make all things new. Will we receive him as he comes to dwell in us, as he comes to make his home in and with us, in all humanity, in all the earth? Will we find room, will we make room for God? Perhaps this is our work of Christmas in this new year of 2021.
Sermon 12/27/20: Embraceable (Pr. Craig Mueller)
Along with joy, life will bring the sword of pain and sorrow. But through whatever is to come, as Simeon blesses God for the birth of the Holy One, God now embraces you with grace and mercy. You are God’s embraceable one. Your very flesh holy, good, and beautiful.
Sermon 12/26/20: Finitum Capax Infinity (Pr. Ben Adams)
Just as God has embraced all things through Christ's earthly incarnation, God is also at work healing, redeeming, and restoring all things. Through baptism and communion, we finite humans intimately receive God’s infinite presence and grace, and we are God bearers for the world. A life of praise is the only appropriate response to such amazing grace and we take our place in joining the hymn of all creation.
Our very beings are capable of containing, receiving, and bearing the infinite. Jesus’ radical incarnation on this earth has brought heaven and earth together as one.
Sermon 12/25/20: Empty Chairs and Empty Tables (Pr. Craig Mueller)
Even on this day of fullness, we wait. And yet. And yet, even at empty chairs and empty tables, Christ comes. To empty, sorrowing hearts, Christ comes. Even in a miserable year, Christ is born! From his fullness we have received grace upon grace. This is God’s promise. This is our song. This is our hope. Evermore and evermore.
Sermon 12/24/20: Christmas is not canceled...or stolen (Pr. Michelle Sevig)
May the Holy One give us the grace to remember that we cannot create Christmas, we can only receive it. Just as the Grinch could not stop it, we can’t make it happen either. Because we learn over and over again that Christmas is more than boxes and tags and ribbons and bows. More than traditions and celebrations. God enters the world and lives among us this night, and for all our days, full of grace and truth. Full of love and promise.
Sermon 12/24/20: Directionless (Pr. Ben Adams)
Merry Christmas dear found ones, whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you have done or not done, Christ has been born to you this day and is with you and leading you towards your ultimate destination, a place we can’t get to with a map because this place is not so much a place at all, but a new day where there will be no more virus, where all will live in unity, and where love and light will fill all creation to overflowing.
Sermon 12/20/20: Interruption or Disruption? (Pr. Craig Mueller)
The disruption is an invitation. God waits. Will you consent? Will you be courageous? God sees you, favored child of God. This is not a test. In the disruption, even in the sadness, in the strangeness, there is breaking news, breaking good news. Nothing, nothing is impossible with God.
Sermon 12/19/20: Rejoice O Highly Favored (Pr. Ben Adams)
This good news of unmerited favor on us all was announced to Mary by the Angel Gabriel and it echoes for us to hear tonight. Through scripture, song, and sacrament we have been reminded not of our power and privilege over others, but of God’s favor and the Lord’s presence with us all, so rejoice O highly favored, the Lord is with you, and Christ is coming to make all things new.
Sermon 12/13/20: Waiting...Hoping (Pr. Michelle Sevig)
We are waiting for many things, some of which will come soon, like Christmas, and others that may or may not ever come. Paul's advice helps us to live fully in the present, grateful for all that God has provided for us. We may discover, in a paradoxical way, that we are waiting for what we already have. And yet we continue to sigh, and to beg, “Come Lord Jesus, come.”
Sermon 12/6/20: Setting the Stage (Pr. Ben Adams)
As we work through the dark winter months that will give way to spring let us sing and write our own songs with evergreen hope. Like Sarah Evans and Claudette Colvin who didn’t know their song of resistance would inspire Rosa Parks, we might not who is listening in the audience and is being inspired by our song, but we can comfort trusting that because of our song the world will be ever more excited and enthusiastic for the headliner who is coming after us, the one who is making and will make all things new, the one in whom we live and move and have our being, the one, the only Jesus Christ.
Sermon 11/28/20: The never-ending Advent (Pr. Ben Adams)
As we begin this Advent, even though it feels like a never-ending Advent, we can look with hope to the promise of God who stops at nothing, not even death, to come and save us. God’s grace has made us ready for that moment. In the meantime, God sustains us, God strengthens us, and God our potter’s hands support us in our waiting.
Sermon 11/29/20: Everything will be okay? (Pr. Craig Mueller)
Christ’s coming is always a surprise, always unexpected. Maybe the past ten months will make this Advent like no other. Come, Lord Jesus. Rip open the heavens. Wake us up. Make all things new! We’re waiting. It’s Advent and we’re waiting.
Sermon 11/22/20: Sheeple, and proud of it! (Pr. Liala Beukema)
In the dark days of the coming Advent remember…if you deepen your resolve to work for justice…You just might be a sheeple. If you join in the call for accountability by public officials and public servants…you just might be a sheeple…If you support small businesses during this economic struggle…you just might be a sheeple…If you learn about and support the concept of reparations…you just might be a sheeple…If you put the pantry on a monthly giving plan…you might be a sheeple…If you learn to include/utilize preferred pronouns…you just might be a sheeple…and good lord, if you wear a mask wherever you go…even when you aren’t required..because you care about others who might get sick even if you might not get sick, well…You ARE a sheeple…and Jesus is proud of it.
Sermon 11/21/20: Come, listen, and give thanks (Seminarian Taylor Walker)
Let us sing praises, and let us come into God’s presence, and let us fall down in worship, and let us listen. Listen to the readings from the voices of our friends. Listen to the same prayers recited this day across the country. Listen to the ways God is comforting us during this time, listen to the ways God is teaching us to love each other in this time, listen to the ways God is saying, “it will be okay one day, and I will never, ever let you go. No matter what.”