Liturgy: God Creates Humans - Genesis 2:4-9, 15-24 (September 10, 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.*

*Call to Worship (based on Genesis 2:7)

Leader: Scripture tells us that the Lord God formed the first human from the earth’s soil and from heaven’s breath.
People: We are creatures of flesh and of spirit, of now and of eternity.
Leader: We belong both to this world and the world to come.
People: We are called by God to honor both parts of our being.
Leader: Let us worship the one who gave us breath!
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: "Shoot for the Moon", Deuteronomy 15:1-11 (September 3, 2023)

About a month ago, NPR’s Scott Detrow interviewed Russell Moore on the radio show “All Things Considered”. Russell Moore serves as editor-in-chief of the magazine Christianity Today, is the author of a new book about Evangelicalism in America, and USED to be a high-ranking official in the Southern Baptist Convention. I say “used to be” because he resigned from his position and left the denomination in 2021. He was gravely concerned about how the Southern Baptist Convention had handled allegations of sexual abuse as well as what he perceived as its tolerance for white nationalism within the church.[1] In his interview with NPR, he shared his thoughts about the crisis that Christianity is facing in America today.

Liturgy: 14th Sunday after Pentecost (September 3, 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.*

*Call to Worship (based on Psalm 133)

Leader: How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!
People: God has anointed God’s people as family.
Leader: Together, we seek God’s blessing.
People: The Lord has ordained blessing for those living in beloved community.
Leader: Thanks be to God!
People: Let us worship the Lord!

Sermon: "But Why?", Deuteronomy 6:20-25 (August 27, 2023)

Kids ask a LOT of questions. I think we can all agree. It’s in their nature. A 2017 British study found that children ask an average of 73 questions a day,[1] which, while lower than the estimated 2.3 million that most toddler parents probably would have guessed, is still an impressive number. A majority of these questions are directed towards a parental figure – while kids today have access to technological resources like Google, Alexa, and Siri right at their fingertips, their caretakers are still their primary source of new information. This is probably for the best, considering how many of their questions require a nuanced response: Alexa may be able to tell your 3-year-old how much an elephant weighs without incident, but you don’t necessarily want her fielding the “were do babies come from” inquiry, and she’s certainly not equipped to satisfactorily explain why people who don’t finish their vegetables don’t get dessert in your house.

Liturgy: 13th Sunday after Pentecost, Deuteronomy 6 (August 27, 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.*

*Call to Worship (based on Deuteronomy 6:24)

Leader: Why does the Lord command us to live a certain way?
People: So that all of God’s beloved children might live full and prosperous lives.

Sermon: “Unlocking Eternity”, Ecclesiastes 3:9-17 (August 13, 2023)

The other day, when Nick and I were out to dinner, he brought up an experiment he’d read about recently (Our shared love language seems to be catching each other up on unusual or significant news stories). The article in question was about a scientist who’d figured out how to control aging in mice.[1] At first, I assumed this meant that he could speed up or slow down the rate of aging a little bit, but no; this scientist has figured out how to accelerate AND EVEN REVERSE aging in the experiment subjects. As you might expect, our dinner conversation quickly turned to the moral implications of this experiment, especially its role in the ongoing human quest for immortality.

Liturgy: 11th Sunday after Pentecost, Ecclesiastes (August 13, 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.*

*Call to Worship (based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

Leader: To everything, there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
People: A time for mourning and a time for dancing.