Sermons To Go (Page 6)

Sermons To Go (Page 6)

To view entire worship service look for the video icon in each of the weeks Sermon’s.

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Some Secrets Are Made for Shouting

Preached Palm Sunday (April 14) 2019 Luke 19:28-40 and 23:13-25, 44-47 Secrets generally fall into two distinct categories. There are secrets that we guard with our very life because they are connected to some deep personal shame within us. We may carry these secrets for a lifetime and never come close to revealing them to another living soul. Because we can’t bear the thought of the rejection that would follow. Ironically, the only way to break the power that such…

Anointed

Preached FCCW, April 7, 2019 John 12:1-8   In the town of Bethany in Judea there was a party going on. You could say that it was a welcome home party, but what an understatement that would be! I dare say that there has never been a homecoming to compare with what was being celebrated that evening. Lazarus sat at the dinner table. He had returned from a unique journey. Not from a trip to some far-off land, but from…

The Parable of the Dishonored Father

Preached FCCW, March 31, 2019 Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32   Some of the religious folks began to take notice that many people who were coming to hear Jesus teach were not like the audiences other rabbis attracted. And not in a good way. They said, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them!” So, Jesus told them this parable… In other words, this was how Jesus responded to their criticism about the company he kept and what it said about his…

Pinky Swear

Preached FCCW, March 17, 2019 Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Hooking little fingers together in a “pinky swear” is one of the ways we learn while growing up, the importance of respecting a solemn promise. A pinky swear seems like all fun and games…until you know what it stands for; which is that the consequence of breaking the agreement is to lose your pinky finger! Then, suddenly it all sounds pretty barbaric. But, still not as barbaric as the way Abram sealed…

Bodily Temptations

Preached FCCW, March 10, 2019 Lent 1C Luke 4:1-13 It’s not what it sounds like. The sermon title I mean. Whether this comes as a relief or a letdown, you’re not about to hear a racy message about temptations of the flesh. The Apostle Paul often referred to the Church as the Body of Christ. It’s the temptations that we face as part of that Body – as a community of believers – that we’ll be looking at this morning.

Every Day an Ash Wednesday

Preached FCCW, March 6, 2019, Ash Wednesday 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 and Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 The church calendar is filled with holy seasons, like Advent, Epiphany, and lent; and holy days like Christmas, Easter, Pentecost – and the one we are here to observe tonight, Ash Wednesday. Often, there are certain visible and tangible practices associated with these special times. Like being anointed with ashes on Ash Wednesday.

Veils

Preached FCCW March 3. 2019 Transfiguration Sunday 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 and Luke 9:28-43a The quote for meditation on the cover of your bulletin comes from a prominent leader in the early days of the Christian Church, named Irenaeus. It begins with these words, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive.” But, what does it mean to be fully alive? For some it might involve some kind of thrill-seeking adventure. Maybe bungee jumping, climbing Mt. Everest, or booking…

Transformers or Transmitters?

Preached FCCW, February 24, 2019 Genesis 45:3-11, 15 and Luke 6:27-38 Four trees and an empty field. That is all that remains of the West Nickel Mines Amish School. It’s been that way pretty much since October of 2006. That was when the world was appalled by one of the most horrific mass shootings in a school full of children… at least, up to that time. The parents of the perpetrator, who took his own life, thought for certain that…

Blessed Be

Preached FCCW on February 17, 2019 Jeremiah 17:5-10 and Luke 6:17-26 When I was a kid, my parents gave me a subscription to Highlights for Children, a monthly magazine for kids. Other than the grown-up feeling I got from having magazines delivered in the mail just for me, there’s not a lot else I can recall about the magazine’s content. Except for Goofus and Gallant. Goofus and Gallant were the names of two characters who appeared in a comic strip…

Go Deep

Preached FCCW, February 10, 2019 Luke 5:1-11 At staff meeting on Tuesday morning – which coincided with the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory parade — someone inferred that this morning’s sermon title had something to do with that game. Since “go deep” is something that a quarterback typically tells a receiver before he throws a long bomb in his direction – like the one Tom Brady threw to Rob Gronkowski to set up the game winning touchdown – it was suggested…

Be Prepared

Preached FCCW, February 3, 2019 Jeremiah 1:4-10   In 1907, Robert Baden-Powell devised the Scout motto: Be Prepared. When someone asked him, “Be prepared for what?” his answer was, “Why, for any old thing.” Of course, no matter how laser focused you are on being prepared for “any old thing,” there are some things that you just can’t be prepared for.

Regifting

Preached January 27, 2019 1 Corinthians 12:1-11   Sue’s birthday is next week; and while browsing on-line for creative gift ideas I stumbled across a Reader’s Digest article entitled “What Not to Buy Your Wife.” Certain that this could not be coincidental, I thought it might be in my best interest to stop what I was doing and read it. Here are a few of the author’s suggestions on what not to buy your wife: Don’t buy anything that plugs…

The Water and the Word

Preached FCCW January 13, 2019 Isaiah 43:1-7 and Luke 3:21-22 In the American South, prior to the Civil War, slaves enjoyed few of the same privileges as their white owners. One of the rare exceptions was the freedom to attend church. But, white slave owners made sure that the only sermons preached to black congregations came from those Bible passages that encouraged slaves to obey their masters and accept their lot in life. On Sunday mornings slaves filled the pews…

Rise and Shine

Preached FCCW January 6, 2019 Text – Isaiah 60:1-6 The prophet Isaiah described a time of “darkness covering the earth and thick darkness over the peoples.” Which raises the question, “What is the difference between darkness and thick darkness?” Can anything be darker than darkness? On family camping trips when I was a kid, we slept in a big old Army style tent, made of thick canvas that blocked out almost every trace of light. At night the darkness inside the…

Star Child

Preached FCCW             December 23, 2018    Advent 4C Luke 1:39-56 Like many of you, lately I have been spending more time in shopping malls than I typically do other times of the year. Since everybody else seems to have been doing the same thing, I have also been spending more time waiting in check-out lines. I’m not complaining though, because it turns out to have been time well spent. It has in fact, made me pause and pay attention to some…

The Other (Not Quite As) Immaculate Conception

Preached FCCW. December 9, 2018 Luke 1:68-79   Improbable pregnancies are a recurring theme in the Bible. None more so than the one we celebrate every 25th of December. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was found to be with child even though she was a virgin. What has come to be known as “The Immaculate Conception.” While the Immaculate Conception is the one and only perfect 10 on the scale of miraculous births, highly unlikely pregnancies can be found scattered…

Signs

Preached FCCW, December 2, 2018 (Advent 1C) Luke 21:25-36   Jesus once told a parable about signs. He said. “Look at a fig tree. As soon as it sprouts leaves you know it is a sign that a change of seasons is just around the corner.” With the season of Advent, comes the many signs that Christmas is coming soon. There are signs in homes and public places, in the form of Christmas trees and bright lights. Even Black Friday…

Truth on Trial

Preached FCCW November 25, 2018 John 18:33-38a   Many courts of law, in various different nations throughout the Western world share a common feature. That common feature would be a certain statue. A statue of a woman named “Lady Justice.” Lady Justice may not look exactly the same in every courthouse where you find her. Some details of her appearance differ according to the differences in how the sculptors who created her, envisioned her in their minds. But you know…

Provoking One Another

Preached FCCW November 18, 2018 Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25   When you open up the Bible, what do you expect to find? Stories that teach us about what God is like? Moral lessons to guide us? Personal comfort for difficult times? Inspiration? All of that is there in the Bible. But, when you open your Bible to the passage we just read from the Epistle to the Hebrews, what you read there is something you might not expect to find.

The War to End All Wars

Preached FCCW, November 11, 2018 (Veterans Day Sunday) Isaiah 2:1-4 Hebrews 9:24-28   This morning we will mark Veterans Day by joining with houses of worship in many other communities by our participation in the Bells for Peace event. Bells for Peace is a commemoration of the armistice that was signed 100 years ago this day, to bring the First World War to its conclusion. World War I was billed as the War to End All Wars. As we all…

Between Alpha and Omega

FCCW 11-4-2018         All Saints Day Revelation 21:1-6a           S. Eliot’s poem “East Coker” begins with the verse, “In my beginning is my end.”   And, it concludes with the words, “In my end is my beginning.” Eliot seems to be pointing us towards an understanding of the ways our origins and our destiny shape the people we are in the in-between times of our lives. The Bible also has a lot to say about beginnings and endings, and their…

First Hand Faith

Preached FCCW, October 28, 2018 Job 42:1-6, 10-17 and Hebrews 7:23-28      A new bride was preparing a ham dinner for her parents and in-laws, when her husband noticed that his wife cut off two apparently good ends of the ham before it went into the oven. When he asked her why she did that, she thought about it for a moment, and then said, “That’s the way my mother always fixed a ham.” After dinner he asked his…