Sermons

About this Sermon | How does Jesus define the idea of generosity? In Mark's Gospel, we find several narratives where Jesus speaks about the generous gifts of another person. Today, we observe an unnamed woman interrupting a meal in order to generously and extravagantly anoint the head of Jesus with an entire vial of expensive nard (a perfume). What does…

About the Sermon | ... About the Guest Preacher| Rev. Soozi Whitten Ford is the Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of Indiana & Kentucky. | Order of Worship | Sunday, September 20, 2020 Click here to download a printable PDF Prelude - When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, arr. Pethel - Melanie Manges Welcome to Worship - Len Wilson Gathering…

About this Sermon | ... About this Series | The Summer Between: Adventures in Liminality liminality [lim-uh-nal-i-tee]: a state of transition between one stage and the next. The Summer of 2020 finds us in the threshold between what was and what is yet to come. In the midst of a global pandemic, we are somewhere between lockdown and vaccine. In…

About this Sermon | The prophet Haggai confronts the people of God with an uncomfortable truth: they've been so busy rebuilding their own individual lives after their return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile, they have neglected rebuilding their community life. 18 years after returning, the temple of God is still in ruins and the altar has not been rebuilt.…

Order of Worship | Sunday, August 30, 2020 Click here to download a printable PDF Prelude - “Come, Thou Fount” arr. Smith - Melanie Manges Welcome to Worship - Gordon Coppoc    Gathering Song - “Thy Word” #664 (Refrain) Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light…

About this Sermon | The prophet Jonah has a message of just five words (in the original Hebrew) to the people of Nineveh. Those five words are all that were between the displeasure and coming judgement of God, and the salvation of an entire kingdom. God also had a message for Jonah that Jonah didn't want to hear- the message…

About this Sermon | In 1 Kings 19, we encounter a desert wilderness Elijah, one who has been changed by the fear he experienced after a death threat from the queen of Israel. Elijah is between in this story: between Mt. Carmel and Mt. Sinai, between a professional high and a professional low, between all kinds of things. What might…

About this Sermon | Joshua 2: 1-21 When we meet Rahab, we learn that she is living in the midst of peril. When she meets the two spies sent to Jericho by Joshua, ahead of what will be the conquering Israelite army and completing the trajectory of the Exodus story, Rahab is absolutely certain that the LORD will prevail. She…

About this Sermon | Exodus 16:2-15, 35 After leading the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and crossing the Red Sea on dry ground, the Hebrew people find themselves hungry. They groan and complain. God hears their cries, and provides everything they need to survive their time in the wilderness. If we think about it, God provides everything…

About this Sermon | Exodus 2: 11-23 When we first meet the adult Moses, we see him trying out his passion for justice, and it doesn't go very well. He flees Egypt, promptly landing in the desert of Midian and a liminal season in his life. What happens to Moses in those years of desert-living, and what does it show…