Sermon: "Star Words, Revisited", Christmas in July (July 25, 2021)

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Today, we gather during the hottest part of the year, not long after a record-setting heatwave, to hear the stories that we associate with the coldest part of the year. We gather, sitting in folding chairs instead of pews, spread out with some of us in the open air, others in the AC, and still others miles away in their homes, to lift our voices as one in singing these sacred songs that, in spite of everything, still manage to transcend time and space. Things are different today than when we normally sing this music, and yet somehow, we cherish that which remains the same.

Sermon: “Make a Joyful Noise: In the Bulb There Is a Flower”, Romans 8:12-25 (July 26, 2020)

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Throughout your life, every choice you make is influenced by an endless list of considerations: what the weather will be like, how much gas is left in your car, how much sleep you got last night, how close you are to payday, and so on and so on. But at this particular moment, one factor looms larger in our decision-making than any other: the novel Coronavirus. This microscopic nightmare has managed to infiltrate not only the bodies of more than 15 million people worldwide, but also the lives of every single human being on earth. It seems like every decision we make these days is dictated by the threat of this tiny adversary, from what we wear to where we shop to how we fulfill our obligations to our jobs—even how we worship has changed dramatically in our efforts to avoid catching or spreading this malicious virus. The entire world is on high alert, and we’re all working as hard and as fast as we can to figure out how to defend ourselves against this new enemy.