Things to Ponder

Sermon Text: John 21:3-19   We are built for community, which means that as soon as we start following Christ we find ourselves in a community of believers, and Christ calls us to care for them, "Feed my sheep." We don't do that as "volunteers," but as "disciples" who are carrying out God's purposes for our lives. To help us do this, we have structures at St. Mary's that lead us, structure our wor...

We're covering the basics of membership in our Sunday worship. Today, we talked the heart of membership - discipleship of Jesus Christ. When we join a church, we don't join an organization, but an organism. At the heart of the church is the story of Jesus - his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. And his most basic call to us is, "Follow me."  And we're given some important tools - pr...

Sermon Text: Genesis 12:1-9; Matthew 7:13 -20   A testimony is a record of the choices we make to live by faith out of the soil of our disciplines, and the impact our lives make on others. There is no testimony that doesn't require making choices. Abram's choice was to go in the complete opposite direction of the entire world, and Jesus tells us to enter by the narrow gate. Make those hard choices...

Sermon Text: John 14:1-9; 1 Timothy 4:1-12   We are all spiritual beings because we are beings who love. If we love anything at all, we are being spiritually formed. The question then is, “Who or what is forming you?” and “is that where you wanna go? Jesus doesn’t say, “I’ll show you the way.” He’s saying, “I am the way…no one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus makes a bold statement: t...

Sermon Text:  Deuteronomy 6:1-12; Luke 5:1-11   We kick off a new sermon series for Lent, "If You Wanna Go Far..." We begin with motivation. What drives us forward? Can external things, really keep us moving forward in life? Our Scriptures give us a different answer. At Sinai, God implores the people to "Love the Lord your God." And in Luke, Peter has an experience that changes his life. Love is a...

Sermon Text:  Mark 9:2-9 The Transfiguration shows us fully what the gospels have only shown us in part: the full divinity of Christ. Elijah and Moses bear witness to this final, full revelation of God's purposes, "This is my beloved Son, listen to him!"   Follow St. Mary's: www.facebook.com/stmarysunitedchurchofchrist/ www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https:...

Sermon Text: Mark 1:29-39   When we participate in intercessory prayer, what is it that we do?  In our reading today, Jesus shows us how he interacts with the sick and suffering.  Not only was Simon's mother-in-law cured, but she was restored to her vocation.  In this way, we see a difference between curing and healing.  And when we understand the difference, our eyes can be opened to new ways of...

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 8:1-18   Last week, Mary told us to "do whatever he tells you." This is the path of discipleship. Faith is less about what we think, and more about what we do. Apply this to a unique situation of meal being sacrificed to idols - what should we do? The answer? Always prioritize the needs of others. Don't let anything come between them and their Savior.   Follow St. Mary's...

Sermon Text: John 2:1-11   In all of scripture, Mary is our most faithful guide for following Jesus, and helps us understand what we are called to be as the church. In the story of the wedding at Cana, she gives us the most basic instruction of discipleship, "Do whatever he tells you." And in this step, Jesus turns the regular water of our lives into the wine of life and purpose and meaning. To ma...

Sermon Text: Mark 1:4-11   In Noah's flood, a dove announced dry land, a new world is here! Except it wasn't. But in Christ, a dove announces that new world is here, and it lands upon Christ, who has given us a new identity - the Beloved. As we welcome our new consistory, they too receive a new identity, to lead this "ark" not to keep people out, but to bring people on board.   Follow St. Mary's:...

Sermon Text: Matthew 2:1-12 The Magi came to worship, and so we are invited in this final Christmas story to worship Christ. In worship, God and his story is made present to us, in a deeply personal way. God is nearer to you at this very moment than your own breath. Worship is simple, but it is a choice to make ourselves fully and personally present to God. And when we fix the life and person of C...

Sermon Text: Psalm 119   Today we celebrate the hiring of our new program leader for children, youth, and families, as well as bless our 2023-34 confirmation class! Psalm 119, an extended treatise on the "law of God," says they are "happy" who follow in the way of God. Happiness is what we all seek, but our young people are as unhappy as any generation we've seen. The world has promised that all s...

Sermon Text: Revelation 7   Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday, and we are brought face to face with the reality of death. And while death is all around us, and can make us lose hope, we don't have to. Even Christ died, and so there is no place we can go where Christ has not already gone. And Revelation shows us, in images and suggestions, how we can draw hope for our lives from the lives of tho...

Sermon Text:  Ezekiel 36   We usually think of the "Protestant Reformation," but reformation is required anytime people ask other things - church, other people, celebrities - to carry our faith for us. Why? Because our God is intensely personal, and that means faith's beauty and power only comes to full bloom when we carry that faith inside ourselves and live it out in our lives. Perhaps reformati...

Sermon Text: Mark 1   When are we saved? Is it at baptism? Is it at confirmation? When we say a prayer? Or are we bound to guess for our entire life, hoping to attain heaven one day? In baptism, Christ comes to us, and the powerful voice of God says, "You are my beloved child." Is that not salvation? A good word today as we celebrated the baptism of Bryce!   https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.....

Sermon Text:  Ephesians 2   What is the role of the church?  What are we supposed to do?  In Ephesians, Paul identifies the problem - "sin," as he calls it; identifies the solution - God's amazing love, and our path forward - a new way of being human.  That is what Christ called us to be.  And the role of the church is to live as that new humanity, and in doing so, become the "poem" God intends us...

Sermon Text: John 12   Worldwide Communion Sunday was established in the 30's to meet the needs of a world that was coming apart. Its message was to bring Christian communities together. Today, the world is different, as we all receiving teaching and encouragement from a variety of Christian sources. So what is the urgent question facing the church today? And what can communion say about it?   htt...

Sermon Text: Romans 12:1-5   While the gospel is a message of what Christ has done for us, it can only be fully understood as it is lived, and the Church's responsibility is to witness to that love in the same cruciform way. As Christ gave his body, so we give our bodies. This is what Paul stresses when he writes "Present your bodies as a living sacrifice." And we know this changes lives because s...

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-7   Pastor Sam stumbled across a social media post that claimed that the main tenet of each religion is basically the same., "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." While there's value to understanding the similarities of religion and the humanity of those who practice them, we also do well to discover what is distinct about Christianity. That distincti...

Sermon Text: Luke 19:1-10   What does a life – shaped by Kingdom realities, priorities, and values – look like? How do we worship here and go to work on Monday? We can't do it i the style of Babylon; it begins by waiting. Waiting leads to discipline, and discipline leads to passion. And that is a recipe for a vibrant life of God.   https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.co...

Sermon Text: Galatians 2   We celebrated a baptism today, which intersected nicely with Turntable. If baptism is to mean anything, it has to help us live well, which means it has to be able to speak love and hope to us on our worst days. So we "learn a hard lesson" at the baptismal font, that we are crucified with Christ. But in that death, we know that Christ accompanies us always, and whispers l...

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...