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Sermon – March 6, 2016

March 6, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Leap of Faith“Leap of Faith: God Doesn’t Recognize Walls“, by Rev. Tom Duley

There is an old Christian rock song by Randy Matthews that you can still listen to on YouTube. Isn’t everything still on YouTube? The name of the song is “It Took a Carpenter.” The line that gets repeated throughout says, “It took a Carpenter to tear down my walls. It took a better man than me.” There’s a good deal in that little line. Perhaps that’s why I still remember it all these years later. Of course, the carpenter is Jesus and the songwriter is astute in recognizing that Jesus is a wall destroyer. There are so many ways that we separate ourselves from God, from each other, even from ourselves sometimes. Jesus takes down those walls.

The line also recognizes that there is someone who knows us better than we know ourselves. There is someone who is better than we are; someone who is constantly working to get us to stretch beyond that which feels safe and makes us comfortable to our better selves. Of course that man is Jesus and one way he helps us to become our better selves is by moving us beyond the walls we build. Jesus helps us to realize that God doesn’t recognize walls…
God recognizes people.

~Tom Duley

The Word

Luke 15:1-7

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

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Sermon – February 28, 2016

February 28, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Leap of Faith“Leap of Faith: Lost in Babylon“, by Rev. Angela Martin

Have you ever been lost? It is not a pleasant feeling when we find ourselves beyond the boundaries of what’s familiar. Fear of the unknown and not knowing our way back can send us into a panic. And yet, in her book, An Altar in the World, Barbara Brown Taylor says that being lost can be a good thing. She even goes as far as saying it can be a spiritual practice; that we might even consider intentionally getting lost by getting off the familiar paths we normally take because it awakens us to new possibilities and the adventure of getting back to the way that is familiar can be of value.

Have you ever felt spiritually lost? Stuck in the wilderness? Sometimes we lose our way spiritually. Life happens and we feel thrust into the wilderness. Sometimes it’s a matter of not paying attention; we lose focus and stop doing those things which keep us spiritually fit and on the disciple’s path like studying scripture or praying daily or coming to worship. It is never because God abandons us. Perhaps we should take Brown’s advice in those times. Maybe in those times of feeling spiritually lost, we can lean in toward God and ask that he awaken us to new possibilities and can grow us in the process. God is always calling us out of our lost-ness. And his promise to us as we return? We “will go out in joy and be led forth in peace”. (Isaiah 55:12)

~Angela Martin

The Word

Isaiah 55:6-12

Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
let the wicked forsake their way,
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

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Sermon – March 8, 2015

March 8, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Path to the Empty Tomb“Get Low“, by Rev. Mike Holly

Sermon Series: Path to the Empty Tomb

One thing we all begin to recognize as we walk with God and grow into a deeper relationship with him is that pride becomes a stumbling block along the way. Not only does it create a wedge in between ourselves and God, it also has the potential to become a barrier between ourselves and others. If we think too highly of ourselves, we begin to dictate to God what we deserve and what we do not deserve. And if we think too highly of ourselves, we begin to judge others for the specks in their eyes, neglecting the logs in our own.

In the second chapter of the New Testament book of Philippians, we discover that Christ “humbled himself,” taking on the human body and condition for our sake. He didn’t think too highly of himself. He didn’t barricade himself away from the sinners and low lifes. No, he humbled himself and came down low to us all.

The third stepping stone along the Path to the Empty Tomb is the step of humility. We learn to not think so highly of ourselves, trusting that as Jesus says in Luke’s Gospel: those who humble themselves will be exalted. Discovering who we really are is humbling, but it also creates the potential for more meaningful relationships with God and others as we cast pride aside

~Mike Holly

The Word

Luke 14:7-14

When he noticed how the guests chose the places of honor, he told them a parable. “When you are invited by someone to a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited both of you may come and say to you, ‘Give this person your place,’ and then in disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you. For all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

He said also to the one who had invited him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

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Sermon – March 1, 2015

March 1, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Path to the Empty Tomb“Turning Around“, by Rev. Mike Holly

Sermon Series: Path to the Empty Tomb

Just ask any traveler who has realized that they have been going the wrong way for too long how they feel about turning around. It’s a pain. But think about a traveler who knows they are going in the wrong direction but neglects turning around. They increasingly distance themselves from where they need to be.
That is what we as human beings face in our lives. We chase after things that are not holy. Things that are not what God wants for us. We go in the wrong direction (taking care of our own lives rather than to give our lives over to God and care for others). Jesus calls us to repent — to turn around and join him.
What do you need to turn away from? We have an opportunity today as we read these words of Jesus. We have an opportunity to choose for ourselves: is Jesus’ way worth turning around for?

~Mike Holly

The Word

Mark 1:4-15

John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

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Sermon – February 22, 2015

February 22, 2015 By Leave a Comment

Path to the Empty Tomb“Letting Go“, by Rev. Mike Holly

Sermon Series: Path to the Empty Tomb

We take our lives for granted, don’t we? We walk around each day not realizing just how much of a gift it is to be alive. Yes, we encounter heartache and frustration. But in the same life, we experience love and friendship. Life itself is a gift. If someone asked you, “how do you build a good life?”, what would you say? To give time and energy to the important things in life? To enjoy every minute of every day doing something that you love? Jesus says something different, and yet the same: In today’s Scripture reading, Jesus says that those who want to have a great life should lose their lives. What does it mean to lose our lives? And how does losing our lives help us to save our lives? The truly good life is lives in relationship with Jesus Christ, following in his footsteps. Today, we’ll explore what that means for us as we begin our Lenten journey on the Path to the Empty Tomb.

~Mike Holly

The Word

Mark 8:31-38

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

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