SERMONS
The Center of Attention
But it’s radical, too. We are initiating our children into a counter-cultural way of life. We are committing ourselves anew to a different kind of greatness. One that finds its purpose in serving others. One that sees the face of God in those the world excludes. One that acknowledges that life is full of heartache, loss, and suffering. One that stands with others in their pain or questions or grief.
The Power of Naming
AS CHILDREN WE USED TO SAY “STICK & STONES MIGHT BREAK MY BONES BUT WORDS WILL NEVER HURT ME.” That just not true! Words have transformative power.
Coming to our senses
What will it take for us to come to our senses? Demanding individual freedom but then adopting the strictest abortion laws in the land. Wanting a president—or the party in power—to fail so much that you’d rather die than get vaccinated or wear a mask. Believing whatever you hear on a trusted television network and turning to snake oil instead of lifesaving vaccines.
Is Religion the Problem?
Harvard University’s new chief chaplain is an atheist who says “we don’t look to a god for answers, but to each other.” Is humanism the answer and religion the problem? Consider a new book about white Christian evangelicals in this country. Jesus and John Wayne describes the dangers of an Americanized, individualized Christianity wedded to military might, patriarchy, and authoritarianism. How do this Sunday’s texts speak to these issues?
What Rules?
There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the rules we set up, arbitrary as some of them might seem. Some rules are actually quite helpful and not arbitrary at all - like wearing a face mask in order to protect our neighbors. But I’m wondering about the rules that we establish - idolize even - that might get in the way of what really matters.
From Me to We
Who are we as a people, when our faith is tested? Who are we when it is tiring to believe? Who are we when we stand on stolen land and at the very same time try to live as a people that are commanded to care for our neighbor as ourselves?
Our Lady of Good Trouble
In Mary’s ‘yes’ to be God bearer for the world, she sings a song of gladness and revolution focused on God’s greatness and God’s action. And if we dare to follow Mary on the journey from contemplative to prophetic witness, a time will come when we too will have to break through the culture’s silence and speak out publicly for God, siding with God, proclaiming God’s greatness, announcing God’s saving action and denouncing the violence that insults the God of peace.
What's for dinner?
If only I’d known that parenthood involved the daily, dreaded question, “What’s for dinner?” EVERY.SINGLE.DAY. From the time they were born needing to be fed every two hours, to the toddler years when we didn’t dare go out of the house without packing a variety of snacks, to the school years chaotic mornings feeding them and preparing for lunches too. Now with three teenagers in the house, we are often eating on the run, on our way to or from baseball games or choir rehearsals.
What is it?
What is it? It’s my favorite line from the story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness. How quickly they forget that they were slaves in Egypt. That life was hard. They’re longing for the meat and the melons and the fresh baked bread they had there. And they do what we do, right. They complain. They whine. They murmur against Moses. You brought us out here to die. We detest, we despise this miserable desert food, like cactus soup every meal. Take us back to the good old days!
Sermon 7/25/21: Impossible? Possible. (Seminarian Jonas Ellison)
Jesus shows us that God is not in the fix-it business. God is in the resurrection business. Where we see limitation and lack, Jesus sees abundance. May we trust the work of God that breathed life into the moon and stars. Who pulses the heart in your chest, even while you sleep. Who sent planets and galaxies spinning into motion… All out of nothing. Newness is coming and God is here.
Sermon 7/18/21: "To Be" Lists (Pr. Craig Mueller)
A “to be” list starts with grace. You are of worth. Simply for who you are. And Christ the shepherd is not like the other power-hungry leaders. He breaks down the walls that divide us. And gives us courage to vulnerable with ourselves and one another. The Risen Christ sees your loneliness. Your stress. Your longings. And looks with compassion on you and all the needy of this world.
Sermon 7/11/21: Saving a Life or Saving Face? (Pr. Michelle Sevig)
We may not turn into prophets like John or Amos, but we are ordinary people called to deliver an extraordinary message. In the letter to the Ephesians read today, Paul names the new believers as God’s blessed, God’s chosen and God’s adopted children. It's kind of like a pep talk that coaches give to their players just before sending them back into the game that seems like a lost cause. Yet we are sent back into the game after worship each week to proclaim God’s inbreaking reign to all the powers that profess to rule this world. And we do not do it alone. God loves us enough in our brokenness to entrust us to be the body of Christ in the world. To share God’s love and light with others and to receive that same love and light through others when we need it most.
Sermon 7/4/21: Hometowns, Homelands, and Beyond (Pr. Craig Mueller)
So many different hometowns all looking down on those who think differently. Jesus rejected by his hometown folk. Where does this lead? Jesus seems to get on with it and invites us to do the same. He sends out disciples. He goes about his business of teaching, healing and proclaiming the good news. Some will reject it. Yet Christ sends us forth this day, to live our faith in word and deed. Honoring and praying for the country we love, indeed. Yet pledging our ultimate allegiance to divine grace that embraces all people and all the countries of the world.
Sermon 6/27/21: "It's Too Much" Pr. Craig Mueller
Sometimes life is too much. Yet the scriptures give us freedom to lament, and grieve, and question where God is in it all. The traumas and trials of life are part of what it means to be fragile human beings. Yet somehow, we still proclaim, we still sing: Great is your faithfulness. Your mercies are new every morning. Every day is a gift! And that truly is too much. Too much beauty and grace for us even to take in.
Sermon 6/26/21: "Incomplete Miracles" Pr. Josh Evans
The story of these two healings, leading up to the cross and resurrection, teaches us that in this world of now and not yet, God’s promises still prevail. Community will replace our isolation. Abundance, not scarcity, will be a reality. Miracles that are incomplete will be completed. And even in the face of death, God brings new life – to us and to all of creation.
Sermon 6/20/21: "After the Storm" Beau Surratt
If you want to be comfortable, do NOT get into a boat with Jesus.
After the storm passes, nothing is the same.
Sermon 6/13/21: "The Unexpected Reign of God" Pr. Michelle Sevig
Would you be willing to be on the lookout this week--maybe this entire summer--and share when you experience God’s reign of extravagant, wild, out of control grace being shared. Where are the places you see hope coming to life among death and fear? When do you sense God at work in the world? Let’s help each other see what Jesus was helping his disciples to see, that God comes among us in the unexpected, that the reign of God is made known in the mystery of Christ among us.
Sermon 6/6/21: "Hide and Seek" Pr. Michelle Sevig
I know intimately and well, maybe you do too, the hunger to belong, to have someone safe and loving to belong to. We know what it’s like to yearn for someone who can hold all of who we are, and love us still, without flinching. That is exactly what Jesus does for the crowds that day. He invites them in, their whole selves, with their flaws and hurts fully exposed and he asks them to stay, and he makes them family. So, stop hiding. Come out come out wherever you are! Jesus—the gardener, the healer, the one who loves you fully, without flinching, welcomes you into his family.
Sermon 5/30/21 "Learning to Walk in the Dark" Pr. Ben Adams
The Holy Trinity is mysterious, and this place Holy Trinity will always be synonymous with mystery to me. And It’s precisely because of this openness to the mystery that we can be bold to learn about and dismantle racism together even when it implicates us, we can be bold to provide our confirmation students and our Life Together catechumens an opportunity to ask questions without trying to appease them with easy answers or cliches, we can be bold co-creators with God as we labor together and birth the kingdom of God here on earth as it is in heaven, and near or far we can be bold to risk another step together putting one foot in front of the other as we vulnerably, but bravely learn to walk in the dark.
Sermon 5/23/21: "Language of the Spirit" Pr. Craig Mueller
The language of the Spirit is beyond words. Beyond belief. Beyond the boxes we religious people put God in. Or other people in. I believe the Holy Spirit is always blowing our minds, enlarging our vision, and calling us to be more than we thought we could ever be. Christ is risen, and with us forever in the Spirit. So let’s learn the language of the Spirit. Don’t just talk. Listen. Groan. Moan. Sigh. Sing. Act. And let’s dream a new world together.