Sermon: “Into the Unknown", Luke 2:41-52 (January 5, 2025)

As many of you know, this past December was unusually rough for me, but for the first time in a long time, it doesn’t feel like the new month and new year offer a fresh start. If anything, I almost feel MORE dread for what comes next, and I know I’m not alone. I was joking with someone on Christmas Eve that, while I usually see social media flooded with posts full of hope that the new year will be better than the last, this year I saw a cartoon with a door labeled “2025” and people peering at it from around the corner, cautiously opening the door with a nine-foot broom. The characters in this cartoon are obviously not looking forward to finding out what’s behind that door, and that seems to be the vibe that we’re all entering this year with.

Liturgy, Advent 4: The X(mas) Files: WHERE?, Micah 5:1-5a/Matthew 2:1-8 (December 24, 2023)

 *You are welcome to use or adapt any of my resources for free, but I ask that you provide proper citation AND comment on this post to let me know.*

Hymns:

Hymn GTG #105, “People Look East”

Hymn GTG #467, “Give Us Light”
Hymn GTG #317, “In Christ There Is No East or West”

Hymn GTG #93, “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Mighty Gates”

Sermon: “Let Us Build a House: Home By Another Way,” 1 Samuel 20:27-28, 30-31, 35-37, 39-42/Matthew 2:1-12 (January 2, 2022)

(This is the seventh and final sermon in our Advent and Christmas series, "Let Us Build a House", based on the Advent theme from A Sanctified Art. The others can be found here, here, here, and here - the third and sixth were given by a guest preacher.)

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Since late November, we’ve been figuring out how to build the home that God calls us to build—God’s kin(g)dom—both for ourselves and for the world. On Christmas Eve, we heard the good news that God has come to dwell with us even though the home we’re building together still isn’t finished. We were challenged to welcome all that Christ is into our hearts (even the parts that make us uncomfortable) because God knows better than we do what it will take to see this project through to completion. We have the blueprints, and the architect has arrived to help us finish construction; the kin(g)dom is imminent. But as we enter a new calendar year with yet another wave of COVID making headlines, national unity still feeling impossibly out of reach, and so many unknowns ahead of us, we may start to wonder if maybe God has changed the plan on us.

Sermon: "2020 Star Words", Matthew 2:1-12 (January 3, 2021)

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Merry Tenth Day of Christmas! Personally, I have yet to see a single lord a-leaping, but the day is still young. Although we technically have two days of Christmas left before Epiphany this year, we generally observe the celebration of the Magi on the Sunday preceding January 6, since midweek worship isn’t too common these days. However, as Epiphany represents the “revealing” of Christ to the larger world beyond the Jewish people, it’s fitting that we use this transitional Sunday, the first one of the new calendar year, to reflect on what’s been revealed to us since the last time we celebrated Epiphany.

Sermon: "Guiding Light", Isaiah 60:1-6/Matthew 2:1-12 (January 5, 2020)

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Today is Epiphany Sunday, the day that we celebrate the magi’s arrival at Jesus’ home. This is a wonderful story with much to teach us: that the story of Christmas is one of ancient scripture being fulfilled, that Jesus’ birth was for Gentiles and Jews alike, and that mortal power often protects itself at any cost. But I don’t want to talk about any of that today.

Sermon: "God Speaks", 1 Samuel 3:1-10/Matthew 2:1-12, 16 (January 6, 2019)

1/6/19

(First of four in a series of sermons during Stewardship Season)

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Today, I want to begin with a story: a friend of mine was in the middle of her ordination process when she encountered an obstacle. It was making things really difficult, to the point that she wasn’t sure if ordination was what God wanted for her anymore. While she was struggling with her sense of call, she still needed to continue her work as a hospital chaplain—unfortunately, life doesn’t stop for discernment. She told me about a day during this time that she visited a child who couldn’t talk. The little girl had to write down anything that she wanted on paper, and she was having a hard time with this process. My friend watched her get upset and quit. As soon as the girl threw down her pen, though, her aunt, who was also in the room, gently chided her, “Now baby, don’t get frustrated and give up!” The girl picked up her pen and tried again, and the rest of the visit went on without incident.