FCCO Sermons: Take 2

(Sermon preached December 15, 2024 - Third Sunday in Advent)  Mary's singing about a revolution as she announces the dethroning of the powerful.  Luke 1 gives us a Mary that is anything but meek and mild.  She resists her status as a lowly girl and births a revolution of love.

(Sermon preached December 8, 2024)  Isaiah 7:10-14 and Matthew 1:18-25 speak about the promise of a child to be born who will be "God with us." Jesus pointed to children as signs of God with us. How do we receive the child?

(Sermon preached December 1, 2024) Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-15 both speak of preparing a way forward toward the Kindom of God that God imagines for creation. And yet, sometimes a hope this big can seem too out of reach and become discouraging.  We need our big hope for direction, but our journey is one of doing the next right thing, one after another.  We can build our resilience and find joy a...

(Sermon preached November 24, 2024) Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday of the Christian year.  John 18:33-37 describes the moment Pilate asks Jesus if he is a king.  Is he?  What does it mean to say Christ is King today?

(Sermon preached at an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service on November 17, 2024) 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 tells us to "rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances." How is that even possible?  And yet, when gratitude becomes a disciplined practice, we discover it is not only possible but essential.

(Sermon preached November 3, 2024) The scripture associated with this sermon is the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30.  Frederick Buechner makes the association of the stewardship of pain and this parable.  This sermon asks, "What do we do with our pain?  How do we steward it well?"  A comment related to the parable.  This sermon does not exegete this parable.  If I were to preach on this p...

(The sermon preached October 27, 2024) Many congregations with property, like FCCO, are approaching the crossroads of declining numbers and rising costs. Tough decisions have to be made when the property ceases to serve the ministry. This sermon explores how our campus is currently used and appeals to steward it well.  

(Sermon preached October 20, 2024) 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, along with passages in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4, name spiritual gifts.  Everyone is gifted by the holy spirit, but our gifts differ so that we can work together, like parts of a body.  What's your spiritual gift?  Who are you, really?

(Sermon preached October 13, 2024) In John 6:1-12 we read John's version of the story of the feeding of the 5,000.  With just five loaves and two fish the whole crowd is fed. The story challenges us to imagine God's abundance when our default is scarcity.  What are your five loaves and two fishes?

(Sermon preached October 6, 2024) Micah 6:8 tells us that God requires us to "do justice, love kindness, and to walk humbly with God." This sermon invites us to think about ways we can steward our citizenship to love our neighbor, do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. 

(Sermon preached September 29, 2024) This sermon concludes a five-week series called "Matters of the Heart." Mark 9:38-50 challenges us to examine ourselves and to sift out things in us that do not serve the kingdom/kindom.  

(Sermon preached September 15, 2024)  In Mark 8:27-38, Jesus asks, "Who do people say that I am?" And then he asks his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" The rest of the passage reveals that they are still "on the way" to understanding, but not there yet.

(Sermon preached September 8, 2024) Mark 7:24-37 tells the story of a gentile woman falling at Jesus' feet, pleading for him to heal her daughter.  His reply is troubling.  It appears he is denying her request and calling her a dog.  Would Jesus do that? What can we learn from this story?

(Sermon preached September 1, 2024)  This is the first of five sermons from the gospel of Mark, a series I am calling, "Matters of the Heart." Mark 7:1-23 addresses the challenges of trying to be pure and spins back around to tell us we are the ones who need our hearts examined.

(Sermon preached August 18, 2024) What is wisdom and why should we care?  In Proverbs 9:1-6, wisdom cries out to us, inviting us to a feast.  She invites us to seek insight and to walk in the way that bends toward life in all its fullness.

(Sermon preached August 11, 2024)  The lectionary reading for today from Ephesians (Ephesians 4:25-5:2) is an appeal to a Christian community to embody the love of Jesus and to walk in love with one another.  Sometimes its messy.

(Sermon preached August 4, 2024)  God is not happy with King David so God sends the prophet Nathan to David with a little story that packs a big punch.  He is humbled and will forever bear the consequences of his actions. The scripture is 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a.

(Sermon preached July 28, 2024) 2 Samuel 11:1-15 tells the story of King David grossly abusing his power to rape and murder.  Why do we need to know this? What about Bathsheba?

(Sermon Preached July 21, 2024) 2 Samuel 7:1-14a contains the promise God made to David for an everlasting dynasty.  This sermon helps to connect the dots from this promise to Jesus and to us.  It asks: Where is God's house?

(Sermon preached July 7, 2024)  Mark 6:1-13 tells the story of Jesus' rejection in his hometown.  He then prepares his disciples for rejection as he sends them out two by two to heal and cast out demons and preach.  It is a good lesson for us as we see the way of Jesus being rejected by people who identify as Christians.  

(Sermon preached June 30, 2024)  In Mark 5:21-43, the gospel writer sandwiches a story within a story about two people receiving healing.  One has suffered for twelve years, the other is twelve years old.  Jesus meets them both with tenderness and calls them to rise up.  This sermon invites us to consider how we can help each other to rise up.

(Sermon preached June 23, 2024) The story of David and Goliath is often told as an underdog story where David is imagined as a young boy.  But what if the story is not as we have been led to believe?  (See 1 Samuel 17 for the story)

(Sermon preached June 16, 2024 - Dads and Grads Sunday)  1 Samuel 15:34-16:13 tells the story of David, the eighth son of Jesse, being anointed by Samuel to be the next king of Israel.  This sermon explores this unexpected choice and how God sees beyond the superficial and looks to the heart.  How is your heart?

(Sermon preached May 26, 2024) Isaiah 6:1-8 tells the story of Isaiah's mystical encounter with God.  In the same year the great king Uzziah dies, Isaiah, in this vision, sees God on the throne.  God wants to know, "Whom shall I send?" to be God's messenger. 

(Sermon preached May 19, 2024, Pentecost Sunday)  Acts 2:1-21 tells the story of the coming of the spirit.  To the church in Rome, Paul describes a different experience with spirit, a spirit that groans (Romans 8:22-27).