Sermon: “Earn This”

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11; James 5:7-10

The strange question from John the Baptist about the identity of Jesus can be difficult to comprehend. How could John not know? Didn’t he baptize Jesus himself? Not surprisingly, this passage is about faith — enduring faith – and living up to one’s best self in the light of God’s great gifts. How is our faith being challenged in personal ways these days? How closely are each of us living up to his or her best self?

Sermon: “Jesus is in the House!” Rev. Fairfax

Scripture: Matthew 24:36-44; Psalm 122

We enter into Advent in a spirit of hopefulness, and our scriptures today proclaim a special presence of God/Christ that is coming into our individual and collective lives. What does it mean for Jesus to be present in your personal life? What does it mean to be prepared for Jesus coming to visit?! Do we really hope for these special moments where clarity is suddenly upon us, or times when we know (unexpectedly perhaps) that “all will be well”? I invite you to read these passages with a sense of expectation, in preparation for this week’s worship experience.

This (age) and That (age): Part 2

Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Last week’s scripture and sermon focused on how people tend to think of eternal life as a future “age to come”, while Jesus brought the concept of “that age” as a way of living that can transform “this age”. In the passage this week, Paul is addressing some people who thought of their Christian life as something that would really occur at the return of Christ (that age), and were therefore living in “idleness” in this age — …. What is Paul meaning when he uses the Greek word that is often translated as “idle” (it can also be described as disorderly or disruptive)? What does it mean to “work” in the church? I am reminded of Bonhoeffer’s notion of “cheap grace”….. What message does this offer for our “modern age” and how we find meaning (or not) through a work beyond ourselves?

Sunday Worship

Sermon: “Making ‘I’ Contact”

Luke 18:9-14; Isaiah 1:10-18

In preparing for this week’s readings, it is good to know that the traditional way to pray in the Jewish temple was to stand with one’s head and eyes looking up to God with hands raised – which is what the Pharisee is doing – and doing it in a public way. Who was he talking to? Notice the body language of the tax collector! Where was he standing? Who was the tax collector talking to? Similar to last week’s gospel lesson, this passage is also about prayer, but it is also about making connections, and it is the lesson preparing us for the real-life encounter in Luke 19 between Jesus and Zaccheus (next week’s gospel story).