Sermons

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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,… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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… More

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,… More

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.… More

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… More

We cannot know Christ unless we follow him daily in life ~ Hans Denck, 16th century Grace must be lived out, or it is not grace ~ Karl Barth, CD II/2: 695 Title: Grace and wealth Texts: Isa 49:8-16, Matt 6:24-34 Date: Feb 27, 2011 Author: Isaac Villegas “Look at the birds of the air;… More

Title: Holiness & Perfection Text: Lev 19 Date: Feb 20, 2011 Author: Chris Gooding What can we learn from the strange book of Leviticus? I studied Jewish legal interpretation under a rabbi while I was at Duke Divinity School, and he would often cite one of the verses in our passage for today to teach… More

Title: Choose life Texts: Deut 30:15-20, Ps 119:1-9, Matt 5:21-37 Date: Feb 13, 2011 Author: Isaac Villegas “Choose life so that you and your descendents may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you” (Deut 30:19-20). The God of Israel cares about life—not only… More

Title: untitled Date: February 6, 2011 Texts: Isa 58:1-9b, Matt 5:13-20, 1 Cor 2:1-12 Author: Matt Morin In today’s passage from Isaiah, we hear the prophet announcing a word of God to the people in the southern kingdom of Judah: Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked… More