Tile: She is not a man, nor is He a woman Texts: Exodus 3:13-15, Matthew 28:16-20 Date: Oct 9, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas This week kicks off our series on passages in the bible that mess with our imagination, with our images of God, especially our images of God’s gender. The church, by […]
All Posts
Uprooted and replanted
Tile: Uprooted and replanted Texts: Isaiah 5:1-8, Ps 80:7-15, Philip 3:4-14, Matt 21:33-46 Date: Oct 2, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas Scattered here and there in our Scriptures for today are images of God’s people, Israel, as vines, planted, uprooted, and replanted; vineyards that need care in order to thrive, to produce good fruit […]
Divine Deal-making and A Painful Patience
Title: Divine Deal-making and A Painful Patience Texts: Jeremiah 15:15-21; Psalm 26; Romans 12:9-21; Matthew 16:21-28 Date: August 28, 2011 Author: Ben D. “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause […]
Forgiveness comes first
Tile: Forgiveness comes first Texts: Matt 18:21-35 Date: September 11, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas How many times do I have to forgive? It’s a good question. After someone has wronged you again and again, at some point, don’t you have to be done with him or her? At some point, aren’t you justified […]
Love is the fulfilling of the Law
Title: Love is the Fulfilling of the Law Text: Romans 13:8-14 Date: Sept 4, 2011 Author: Meghan Florian We are a people deeply indebted – indebted to love. It is, one might say an infinite debt. One which we can never repay. Yet here we are, in the epistle to the Romans, being told in […]
In heaven as it is on earth
Tile: In heaven as it is on earth Texts: Isa 51:1-6, Ps 138, Matt 16:13-20 Date: August 21, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas This past summer I’ve been teaching a class at the Durham prison, a class on autobiography. We read and discussed memoirs like Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott and the Autobiography of Malcolm […]
Strange encounters
Title: Strange Encounters Texts: Isa 56.1, 6-8; Matt 15.21-28 Date: August 14, 2011 Author: Nathan Rauh One of the things I’ve come to realize this summer is how much this community has been working on me, teaching me to sit in the tension with difficult texts and let them work on me. Catherine exemplified that […]
The voice of the Lord
Title: The Voice of the Lord Text: 1 Kings 19:9-18 Date: Aug 7, 2011 Author: Catherine Lee So in the mold of the “summer of stories,” I’m going to tell you one. But only one. I’m pretty much just going to riff on one really good story from 1 Kings. But don’t worry, there’s lots […]
Bread of life
Tile: Bread of life Texts: Isaiah 55:1-5, Romans 9:1-5, Matthew 14:13-21 Date: July 31, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas Jesus withdrew to a solitary place, away from the towns, “a deserted place by himself” (Matt 14:13a)—perhaps to mourn the death of John the Baptist, who was just beheaded by king Herod. “But,” the text says, […]
Angels and hell
Tile: Angels and hell Texts: Rom 8:26-39; Matt 13:31-33, 44-52 Date: July 24, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas I used to live in a house in Durham, in Walltown, where we tried to create an environment of hospitality, of letting needy people stay with us, of hosting meals throughout the week for people in our […]
Waiting with Brian Haw
Tile: Waiting and Groaning Texts: Rom 8:12-25 Date: July 17, 2011 Author: Isaac S. Villegas We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains… and not only creation, but we ourselves…groan inwardly (Rom 8:22-23). For the past ten years, Brian Haw camped in Parliament Square in London, England. At night he slept […]
Egads! a sermon on the Song of Songs
Title: Egads! a sermon on the Song of Solomon Date: July 3, 2011 Author: Thomas Lehman Texts: Zechariah 9:9-12, Song of Songs 2:8-13, Romans 7:15-25a, Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 My title is a plagiarism. On the 31st of August, 2003, Jennifer Graber preached on the same passage from Song of Solomon. After long deliberation I have […]
New creation
Title: New creation Date: July 6, 2011 Texts: 2 Cor 5:18a Place: MCUSA Convention Author: Isaac Villegas “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ.” We pulled into the parking lot of St. John’s Missionary Baptist Church—a 100-year-old black Baptist church; we were there for our Holy Thursday footwashing service. Since […]
Prophets
Title: Prophets Date: June 26, 2011 Texts: Jeremiah 28:5-9, Psalm 89 Author: Isaac Villegas Jeremiah is stuck in a battle of the prophets. There are two prophets at the center of this drama, Hananiah and Jeremiah, and each of them offers a competing vision of the future. Jeremiah offers a difficult word to the people […]
Hope that is in you
Title: Hope that is in you Date: May 29, 2011 (6th Sunday of Easter) Texts: Ps 66:8-20, 1 Pe 3:13-22; Jn 14:15-21 Author: Isaac Villegas Let’s review the basics. Easter is about resurrection; in the church calendar Easter is a seven-week celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. And resurrection is all about hope; resurrection […]
You killed Jesus
Title: You killed Jesus Date: May 22, 2011 (5th Sunday of Easter) Texts: Acts 7 Author: Chris Gooding It seems somehow appropriate that, on my last time appearing before this congregation to preach, I’m assigned Acts 7—the story of the stoning of Stephen. In the story, Stephen is arrested and made to appear before the […]
the miracle of faith
Title: The Miracle of Faith Text: John 20:19-31 Date: May 1, 2011 Author: Meghan Florian It’s late in the evening, and the disciples are gathered in secret, huddled in a circle, maybe, talking in hushed tones. So much has happened in a week. So many of their hopes dashed. Their expectations of power and glory […]
Mothers’ Day in Alabama, 1961
Title: Freedom Riders Date: May 8, 2011 (3rd Sunday of Easter) Texts: Luke 24:13-35, Acts 2:36-41 Author: Isaac Villegas This past week was a historic week for people in America. This week, fifty years ago, in 1961, a group, assembled from all over the country, got on buses in Washington, D.C., and began their trip […]
A local Easter story
Title: A local Easter story Date: April 24, 2011 (Easter) Texts: Matt 28:1-10 Author: Isaac Villegas Let me tell you an Easter story. C.P. Ellis’s father died at the age of forty-eight, which meant that C.P. had to drop out of high school and become the bread winner for his family, for his mom and […]
Who is this?
Title: “Who is this?” Date: April 17, 2011; Palm Sunday Texts: Ps 118, Matt 21:1-11 Author: Isaac Villegas Jesus is the talk of the town. Crowds gather along the streets. Some are there to welcome God’s prophet, the one who will speak God’s truth about the world. Others are there to welcome a messiah, the […]
Double Vision
Title: Double Vision Texts: Ezekiel 37.1-14, Psalm 130, Romans 8.6-11, John 11.1-45 Date: April 9, 2011 Author: Nathan Rauh Prayer: Merciful LORD, thank you for giving your prophet Ezekiel his vision, and us your Scripture. Holy Spirit, go beyond my words to speak your Word to us, and point us to Jesus Christ, the Word […]
We are not blind
Title: “We are not blind, are we?” Date: April 3, 2011, Lent 4 Texts: Jn 9:1-41 Author: Isaac Villegas The disciples stand at a distance and are curious about the beggar; they use the blind man as a way into a theological discussion with Jesus. “Rabbi,” they say, “who sinned, this man or his parents, […]
Healing & Hope
Title: Healing and Hope Date: March 20, 2011 Texts: Jn 3:1-21 Author: Isaac Villegas In Fukushima, Japan, when everyone was told to evacuate the nuclear power plants, 50 workers refused to abandon the reactors. They decided to stay and work around the clock, doing all that they could do to try to prevent a meltdown. […]
Reformed earth (Ash Wed)
Title: Reformed earth Date: 3/9/11 (Ash Wednesday) Texts: Isaiah 58:1-17 Jesus once said, “Only the one who loses her self will save it.” I think that’s a pretty good way to summarize what Lent is about. It’s about learning how to lose yourself, to let go of the self you have created, the identity you […]