Delivered while pastor at Sojourners United Church of Christ in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Scriptures: Various gospel verses Happy New Year! This sermon has its origins in the New Year holiday, even though it probably won’t seem much like a sermon that has anything much to do with the New Year. I don’t seem to be able to get through the beginning of a New Year without giving at … Read more
Scripture: Amos 5:14-24 I’ve been hearing voices. I realize that’s a statement that could be interpreted to mean that I need professional help or that I need to be medicated or some such thing, but before we go there, let me tell you about the voices I’ve been hearing. One of the voices I’ve been … Read more
Scripture: Romans 12:1-13 I want to say some words of appreciation on behalf of the church. Since it is a day when we have a congregational meeting and when we will receive some new members into the church, it is a day when it seems appropriate to lift up the church in prayer, and I … Read more
Scripture: Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9 I confess that when I started thinking about this sermon I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go. I didn’t have a topic at the front of my brain that I knew was going to be the core of the sermon, but there were three possibilities for preaching … Read more
Scripture: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 I could have a lot to say today. The story of the Amistad is an important piece of UCC history and has a direct connection to Sojourners in several ways. There are lots of details in the story that could be elaborated on. There are lots of things about the story that … Read more
Scripture: Mark 11:1-11: John 18:33-38 As the title of the sermon might suggest, I have several things on my mind this morning, and when I started writing I wasn’t sure what would make it into the sermon or how it would all fit together. I do have Palm Sunday on my mind of course. It’s … Read more
Scripture: Matthew 28:1-10; Psalm 23 Back in those days long ago—I’m referring now not to the times of Jesus but to those times before the airwaves were pretty much filled up with the economic troubles of our country and the political troubles of the Obama campaign—back in those days long ago before Bear Stearns and … Read more
Scripture: 2Corinthians 4:1-12 I have known for quite some time what I wanted to preach about this morning. In January, at our congregational meeting, we adopted a proposal regarding how we intended to live out the outreach and social justice commitments, which are important to us here at Sojourners. We agreed at that time to … Read more
Scripture: Luke 24:13-35 I have some comments today directly related to the scripture reading, which is a traditional one in the Sundays following Easter. You may have noticed that sometimes scripture is more in the background in my sermons, not always front and center, not always obviously what I am talking about. Most of the … Read more