Sermons

“How Do You Know?” John 2:23-3:17 by Ben D. March 16, 2014 Nicodemus often gets a bad rap. Take for example a group that bore his name. In the sixteenth century, during the bloodiest period of the Protestant Reformation, a group of French Huguenots decided that the best way to avoid persecution for their illegal… More

Stones and bread Genesis 2, Matthew 4 by Isaac Villegas March 9, 2014 Genesis 2:15, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.” Last week I was in a community garden in Palestine, a small plot of land in Beit Ummar, in the… More

A Dream of Light and Songs of Sorrow Matthew 17:1-9 by Dave Swanson March 2, 2014 “But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Get up and do not be afraid.’  And when they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus himself alone.” What just happened? If you were hearing this story for the first… More

You Shall Be Holy Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18 by Meghan Florian February 23, 2014 Today’s passage from Leviticus, sometimes called a “Holiness code,” provides some pretty clear mandates for how to be in the world as God’s faithful, holy people. You shall, you shall not. Economics, agriculture, justice — you name it, there’s probably an aspect… More

Look! Isaiah 58:1-9a by Isaac S. Villegas Feb 9, 2014 In Isaiah 58, the people try to get God’s attention: “Why do we fast,” they say to God, “but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” (Isaiah 58:3) But God’s turns the question back on the people, and asks them… More

Madness and crucifixion 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 by Matt Elia Feb 2, 2014 The prayer I’d like to open with is from Saint Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest who spent his life serving the poor. In 1605 he was taken captive and sold into slavery in North Africa. Being freed years later, he… More

Title: Emmaus, Hospitality and Power Text: Luke 24:13-31 Author: Isaac S. Villegas Date: February 2, 2014 Event: MCUSA People of Color, “Hope for the Future” Place: The National Conference Center, Leesburg, VA Luke 24:30, “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.” He… More

Title: Emmaus, Strangers as Companions Text: Luke 24 Author: Isaac S. Villegas Date: January 31, 2014 Event: MCUSA People of Color, “Hope for the future” Place: The National Convention Center, Leesburg, VA A stranger in Jerusalem These two disciples, on the way to Emmaus, have been with Jesus. They have walked with him before, from… More

Broken Body Language 1 Cor 1:10-18; Matt 4:12-23 by Isaac Villegas January 26, 2014 The verses we heard from I Corinthians are bad news for preachers. We’re told that all the work that goes into crafting a clever sermon — the revising, the editing, the memorizing, the public speaking exercises — all of it is… More

Baptized into God Matthew 3:13-17 by Isaac Villegas January 11, 2014   “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:13-17). You are my son, my daughter, the one whom I love, the one whom I am well pleased. Who wouldn’t want to hear… More

After Christmas Matthew 2:13-23 by Isaac Villegas December 29, 2013 The Christmas season is full of magic, a season of miracles — Saint Nicholas and Santa Claus surprising children with gifts, stories of angels appearing to shepherds in the night sky, and, the miracle of all miracles, the advent of Christ, God as human flesh… More

On being liked Matthew 1:18-25 by Isaac Villegas Dec 22, 2013 Not only does God love us; God also likes us. The story of Christmas tells us that we are not only loved by God, but that God actually likes us. There’s a difference between loving people and liking them. I can think of people… More

Death in the Hands of Life Third Sunday of Advent, Dec 15, 2013 By Scott Schomburg Matthew 11:2-11 In the world of Matthew’s Gospel, death has broken loose. Its kingdom is on the offensive. It terrorizes. Annihilates. Threatens. Herod’s massacre jolts us into world ordered by death. Disease invades life. Death’s relentless force designates some… More

Advent Fire Matthew 3:1-12 by Isaac Villegas Dec 8, 2013 On this second Sunday of Advent, we talk about fire. Not just the flicker of a candle, but flames, blazing. Christmas brings a baptism of fire. The advent of Jesus means fire. John the Baptist tells us so, when he appears near Jerusalem, with bugs… More

Live by mercy Luke 18:9-14 by Isaac S. Villegas October 27, 2013 The Pharisee stands by himself, it says, and prays; he offers words of gratitude, of thanksgiving. He’s grateful for his luck, his good fortune that he has not become a thief or villain, an adulterer or tax collector — he’s grateful that he… More

She Persists Luke 18:1-8 by Meghan Florian October 20, 2013 In today’s gospel passage from Luke, Jesus tells the disciples a parable about their need to pray always, and not lose heart. The story take places in a certain nameless city, and features two main characters. First, there is a judge who has no fear… More

Homemaking as resistance Jeremiah 29:1-7 by Isaac S. Villegas October 13, 2013 “Build houses… Plant gardens…” Jeremiah says (Jer 29:5). James picks through a crumbling building on an abandoned lot on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, carefully selecting rubble to make a border for the deserted plot of earth he had dug into an… More

Lamentation & Communion Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26 by Nathan Rauh-Bieri October 6, 2013 Last Sunday, Isaac preached about what Jeremiah does in the face of the impending destruction of Jerusalem: he buys a field at Anathoth. This mundane of act of sober hope is also an invitation for life to happen in the midst of and… More

The field at Anathoth Jeremiah 32 by Isaac S. Villegas Sept 29, 2013 I haven’t spent much time at the Anathoth Community Garden. I haven’t pulled weeds in those beds or picked tomatoes from the vines, as I know some of you have done. I’ve only been out there for celebrations — for harvest festivals… More

Righteous but Shrewd; Poor but Extravagant Luke 16:1-15 by Ben D. Sept 22, 2013 As Catherine reminded us last week, Luke’s gospel has much to say about loss—about the experience of losing things.[1] Jesus says: Those who want to save their life will lose it; those who lose their life for my sake will save… More

Kingdom for the Lost Luke 15:1-10 by Catherine Thiel Lee September 15, 2013   Tonight we are going to look at two stories, parables that Jesus told.  They are simple stories.  Nice stories.  Things get lost, but they are found, and then there are parties.  The parables aren’t long, so I’m going to read them… More

Single, like Jesus Luke 14:25-33 by Isaac S. Villegas Sept 8, 2013 I grew up listening to Focus on the Family, five days a week, every morning on Family Life Radio. For that half hour, Dr. Dobson would explain the world to me; he’d tell me how to understand my life and our culture. On… More

Am I yours and are you mine? Luke 14:1, 7-14 by Melissa Florer-Bixler Sept 1, 2013 Ascension Parish is nestled into the side of Portland, Oregon’s Mount Tabor so it was a steep climb to the wooden front door. Making my there was especially difficult when negotiating the terrain with Joni, who finds walking on… More

Restoring Bent People Luke 13:10-17 by Joanna Shenk August 25, 2013 I’ve been trying to visualize how bent over this woman was… I guess that’s not really the point, but it tugs at my imagination. And I wonder why it is that I immediately imagine an older woman with many wrinkles and tattered clothes? We… More