Things to Ponder

Sermon Text: Romans 57:15 -24   Armed with the most wonderful story in the world, why is it that so few believers seem to live as if it makes a difference? Truth is, it's really hard to move into the new life of Christ. As U2 sings, we find ourselves unsteady and unsure. The path forward? To keep practicing the new life, doing the small things that keep us moving forward, trusting that God is brin...

Sermon Text:  Romans 5, Psalm 40   This song moves our conversation about "Babylon" from the global to the personal. Babylon makes false promises, and yet there's this nagging sense of hope, that things can be different. In Romans, Paul teaches us that in Adam, we are all fallen, but in the second Adam, Christ, we are all made new. This is reflected in the Editors lyrics - our "broken hearts" of s...

Sermon Text: Isaiah 21; Luke 4   This song is taken right from Isaiah 21, where Isaiah pronounces judgment on Babylon. Babylon is one of the major themes of the entire Bible. What is Babylon? Why is she judged? And what does it mean to live faithfully in the midst of her? Into the midst of another Babylon - Rome - just comes and shows us an entirely new Kingdom.   https://www.facebook.com/stmarysu...

Sermon Text: 1 Chronicle 16:7-15; Psalm 42   Last week, we celebrated a baptism. This week: do you remember your baptism? Baptism makes present the reality it proclaims - the cross of Christ and new life! If it is so core to our identity, we cannot allow it to become a distant memory or an old certificate. We must remember regularly. And when we do, God transforms us.   https://www.facebook.com/st...

Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13 -17   Today, we celebrated the baptism of Everett! So we wondered about the sacrament of baptism: what is the truest thing about us? At its core, baptism is a desire to say unequivocally the truest thing about you, That you are the beloved child of God. Full stop. And that is why we baptize children. We want to say it before anyone else whispers anything else to you. Befo...

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 17; Matthew 14:13-21   Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-.. .

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 3:9b-14   Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-.. .

Sermon Text: John 15; Ephesians 4   We concluded our series on the windows by looking at the final two, representing baptism and communion. What are the sacraments, and what do they do? We talked about the remarkable gift they are. Then we stepped back and looked at the sanctuary in its fullness - what is the message of this place? Short answer? In our deepest heart, God meets us with love and bid...

Sermon Text: Revelation 4:6-8   Today we looked at the traditional symbols for the four gospels in our windows, and discovered these images come from Scripture itself! They are a reminder that every time we open Scripture, we are brought into the presence of God in a powerful way. the Bible is intended to point us to Christ, and the Bible is only life-changing as we allow Christ to shine through i...

Sermon Text: Colossians 1   Today, we released a new logo! Logos - and imagery of all kinds - makes our feelings, beliefs, and visions tangible. But the Bible is notoriously skeptical of images, because we can't capture God in a finite image. But what if God GAVE us an image? In Christ, God did. And all of our images are intended to point back to that singular image - Jesus crucified, resurrected,...

Sermon Text: 1 John 4   Trinity Sunday is one of a very few Sundays where we celebrate a doctrine. But what does the doctrine of the "Trinity" actually do for us? In the Trinity, God is a swirling, living, breathing experience of love. By being 3-in-1, God can be love in God's very essence. And through the Holy Spirit in us, we participate in that life. To be disciples, then, is to go seeking to g...

Sermon Text: Acts 2   The apostles waited eagerly for the sending of the Holy Spirit, and on that Pentecost Sunday the Spirit was sent and the gospel began its spread across the world, until it reaches us. We are the people the apostles were praying for. In the same way, this congregation has prayed for an outpouring of God's Spirit, and today we confirmed 6 students into the faith and family of J...

Sermon Text: Acts 1, Ephesians 1   Good theology starts with a simple question: Where is Jesus' body? On Ascension, we celebrate that Jesus' body goes to the right hand of God. He is above all powers, and fills all things, and our citizenship is in heaven. Church, then, is the place to experience heaven right now, and our responsibility is to join Jesus in bringing heaven's life to earth, "Thy Kin...

Sermon Text: John 14:1-14   In his resurrection, Christ has created a new home for us. "But how do we get there?" Thomas asked. It can feel that way for us as well. How do we get to resurrected life? Jesus gives us three metaphors, "way, truth, and life." As we commit our lives to Jesus and follow in his way, his truth, and his life, the Kingdom is made real in us.   Bonus Content begins at 21:55....

Sermon Text: John 10:1-10   Mrs. Diane Flickinger was our special guest speaker to reflect on the ways that Christ is the Good Shepherd. Thank you, Diane, for your wonderful message!   Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-.. .

Sermon Text: Genesis 32   Today we did a Blessing of our Garden. In our gospel reading, Jesus withdrew to a secluded place to pray, a place a lot like this one. It was out of that that he could do the miracles he did. The life we live in relationship to agriculture and the earth is spiritually weighty, and we often find ourselves wrestling with God. That wrestling is holy, and brings us to a place...

Sermon Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9   Rev. Sheresa Simpson-Rice, Associate Conference Minister for the Central Atlantic Conference, UCC, was with us this Sunday to bring greetings and a message! Alloys are created when multiple metals are joined together, bringing the best characteristics of each to bear on a new thing. The apostle Peter tells us that in light of Christ's resurrection, we will go through h...

Sermon Text: Matthew 28:1-10   How do we get from a crucified Messiah to Easter? How do we get stories of the apostles being murdered and early Christians gathering in holes and caves to tell this story? How do we get martyrs and mystics? How do we get abolitionists and peace activists? How do we get teachers and leaders and pastors and volunteers who talk to you with that look in their eye, that...

Sermon Text: Mark 11:1-11   On Palm Sunday, Jesus proclaims himself as King as he rides to Jerusalem on a donkey, and the peasant crowds cry out, "Hosanna!" come save us! But from the other side, Pilate rides in on a warhorse, accompanied by soliders. The stage is set: two ways of looking at the world, two ideas of salvation. And we are left with a choice. Some of us have never made a choice for C...

Sermon Text: John 11:1-45   As we've walked this Lenten journey, we've told stories and discovered lessons. But...we don't need Jesus for any of them. But Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus is making a bigger, more remarkable claim. Jesus is more than good stories and moral platitudes. He joins us to the very point of death. And he asks if we believe this. If we are to be peop...

Sermon Text: John 4:1-41   Through your life, God is shedding light on who God is and what God is doing in the world, no turning back. And that story is a gift which makes claims about Christ and his Kingdom. In today's gospel, Jesus changes a man's story forever, but that story falls under scrutiny. Yet though it all, the man grows in his understanding of Christ and his boldness in sharing his st...

Text:  John 4:5-42   To become a part of the body of Christ is a wonderful thing. But when we create an "us," we also create a "them." So how do we handle this basic human instinct? Jesus shows us how as he meets a Samaritan woman. He acknowledges the differences, but never tries to "win." Rather, he meets the woman in her deepest needs, and in doing so, changes her life and the life of her commun...

Sermon Text: John 3:1-17   Ultimately, Jesus is not asking us to adhere to certain beliefs or a certain behaviors. He offers us a new self. And we’re either going to decide to stay exactly where we are – we’ve worked hard to get here, of course – or we’ll take the leap. A logic-defying, risk-it-all, never-look-back leap of faith. A leap that believes the spirit will blow wherever it wants to, far...

Text: Exodus 16; Luke 24:27 -35   Altar calls offer a powerful emotional response to the creative Word of God. The response to God’s Word has to be personal; God’s love must be met with a response, with our bodies and our intentions and our will. Why don't liturgical traditions have such a tradition? It turns out that we do. In the sacraments, we respond to the death and resurrection of Christ wit...

Text: Revelation 10:9-10; Luke 24:17 -27   Ours is a faith based in words, and those words carry meaning. We should therefore let our words be shaped by the community, which is what we find in the Bible. When we encounter those words with deep hearing and faith, they create the realities they proclaim - new things are created, forgiveness is given, relationships are built. As a people, then, we ar...