Harvard-Epworth Church

A sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 20:1-17 Then God spoke all these words, “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You s...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay. Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 16 selections The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whol...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 14:5-7, 10-11, 19-25; 15:19-21 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the minds of Pharaoh and his officials were changed toward the people, and they said, “What have we done, letting Israel leave our service?” So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him; he took six hundred elite cha...

A sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 12:1–4, 7, 11–14 (Note: The Exodus passage tells the story of the preparations for the original Passover, as the enslaved Hebrew people made ready to leave their oppression behind. What do you hear in these words? What piques your interest? What makes you cringe?) YHWH said to Aaron and Moses in the land of Egypt,“This mo...

A sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 3:1-15 Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Leading the flock deep into the wilderness, Moses came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The messenger of YHWH appeared to Moses in a blazing fire from the midst of a thorn bush. Moses saw— "The bush is ablaze with fire, and yet it isn...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Hebrew Scriptures Exodus 1:8-21 Now a new Pharaoh arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph. He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” Theref...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Gospel Lesson Matthew 15:21-28 Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps sh...

A sermon by Rev. Grace Killian. New Testament Lesson Acts 16:11-15 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay. Epistle Romans 8:26-39 The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness. For we don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit expresses our plea with groaning too deep for words. And God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God. We...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Epistle Romans 8:14-25 Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. For the Spirit that God has given you does not enslave you and trap you in fear; instead, through the Spirit God has adopted you as children, and by that Spirit we cry out, “Abba!” God’s Spirit joins with our spirit to declare that we are God’s children. And...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay. Gospel Matthew 13:1-9, 19-23, Barnstone translation On that day Yeshua went out of the house and sat by the sea. And a great multitude gathered before him, so that he got into a boat and sat there, and all the crowd stood on the shore. And he told them many things in parables. He said: Look, a sower went out to sow and as the seed was scattered,...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Gospel Matthew 10:24-39 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household! "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered...

A sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Epistle Romans 5:1-5 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and en...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Hebrew Scripture Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have radah [caretaking authority] over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” Gospel Matthew...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay Hebrew Scripture Genesis 1:1-5 At the beginning of God’s creating of the skies and the earth when earth was wild and waste (tohu va bohu), darkness over the face of Ocean, rushing-spirit (ruach) of God (elohim) hovering over the face of the waters-- God said: Let there be Light! And there was light. God saw the light: that it was good. God separat...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. New Testament Lesson Acts 2:1-18 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they all met in one room. Suddenly they heard what sounded like a violent, rushing wind from heaven; the noise filled the entire house in which they were sitting. Something appeared to them that seemed like tongues of fire; these separated and came to rest on the head of each...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Hebrew Scripture Jeremiah 29, excerpts These are the words of the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to the remaining elders among the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon . . . The letter read: "Thus says the Lord of hosts, the G...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Epistle 1 Peter 3:13-18a Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Epistle                                                                          1 Peter 2:2-5, 10 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, a...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitch Hay. Acts Lesson                                                                   Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common;...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Gospel Lesson                                                                Luke 24:13-35 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus came near and went with them, bu...

A sermon by Rev Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay Gospel Lesson                                                    Matthew 21:1-11 When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If any...

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel and Rev. Mitchell Hay. Gospel Lesson                               John 11: 1–3, 5–6, 17–41a, 43b–44 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you lov...

A sermon by Rev. Mitch Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Gospel Lesson                                                        &nbs...

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel. Gospel Lesson                                                        &...