Guest Sermon: "The Curious Case of the Descending Tricolon Crescendo", Isaiah 55:10-13/Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 (August 15, 2021)

Preached by the Rev. Carol Holbrook Prickett:

I only had to participate in the school science fair once.

It was required of all sixth-graders, optional after that. I chose for my project what has to be one of the most common experiments out there, right alongside the standard baking soda volcano: I planted seeds in different kinds of soil to test how they grew.

One of my pots had regular soil in it. Into one I mixed the kind of things you put into compost—banana peels, mostly. The third I added trash to—bits of Styrofoam and candy wrappers. I was pretty sure that that the trash plants wouldn’t grow, and the regular soil ones would, and the compost ones would do the best.

Between Ms. Frizzle and Bill Nye, I thought I understood the basics of horticulture.

Sermon: "Holy Imperfection", Luke 19:1-10/Philippians 3:12-16 (November 3, 2019)

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As I'm sure all of you with doorbells at your house are well aware, last Thursday was Halloween. That doesn't mean a lot with regards to the Church, but what it does mean is that Friday was All Saints' Day. Since most Protestants don't do much with mid-week celebrations, today is the day that Presbyterians, Methodists, Lutherans, and many other denominations all over the world observe this liturgical event. Traditionally, it's the day when we remember people of faith who have died, particularly in the past year, and celebrate the fact that we're still connected to them through Jesus Christ as eternal members of God's Kingdom.

Sermon: "Of Saints and Seedlings", Jeremiah 31:27-34/2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 (October 20, 2019)

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Okay; don’t tell anyone, but I have a problem with scripture.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate. What I actually have a problem with is a particular scripture-related metaphor. In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the sower (which our kids presented beautifully a couple of weeks ago) and then, in a rare move, he explains what the parable means so that there can be no confusion: the seeds that the farmer sows represent the Word of God, and the different types of soil that they land in represent our potential attitudes when we hear the Gospel. In other words, how we receive the Good News determines whether or not it’s able to take root in our hearts.