Federated Church Sycamore Sermon Podcast

In this Christmas Eve message, Pastor Eric reflects on the meaning of Christmas and the proclamation that God is Emmanuel--"the God who is with us." What did it mean for this God to "be with" Mary, Joseph, the shepherds and others 2,000 years ago, and what does that mean for how God seeks to "be with us" here and now? How does this grand story speak of a God who knows your name; who knows you inti...

In this Advent message, Pastor Eric explores how the story of Mary and Joseph speaks to this week's reminder: "Hope is worth the risk." While it may seem obvious--we all know we want and need hope--actually moving forward in hope amidst the endings and new beginnings woven throughout our lives can be immensely difficult. When we've been worn down by suffering, disappointment, loss, rejection, or b...

In this Advent message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the reminders we need to hear again and again throughout life, especially as we navigate new seasons. This time, amidst the various endings in our lives and world, when it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the world's disasters, uncertainty, and grief we are reminded that we are neither called to be heroes who do it all, who hold...

In this message, Pastor Eric continues our Advent series exploring "reminders for new seasons;" those truths we need to hear again and again throughout life as we navigate endings in order to move toward new beginnings. Drawing in the powerful story of Ruth and Naomi and the Book of Ruth, this message explores the reminder that "You cannot go it alone." It's a message that we can all pretty readil...

Advent, like Lent, is a season that is meant to prepare our hearts to hear and receive the good news of God's incarnate love anew. Advent marks a beginning, a new year, in the "church calendar." As we begin our journey toward the manger, we also consider the beginnings--and endings--in our own lives. As we do, we open ourselves to hearing ancient promises anew, beginning with "YOU are a blessing."...

In this message, Pastor Eric shares a few stories from his own life and faith journeys to help us reflect on small things in life that are actually the big things; the easy-to-overlook moments that are actually the moments that matter the most. The great Medieval German theologian, Meister Echkart, said: "If the only prayer you say in your life is 'thank you,' it would be enough." What if we learn...

In this message, Pastor Eric concludes our Stewardship series on being a Community of Hope. It also being the first Sunday after the 2024 election, he reflects on how Jesus himself lived in a difficult, chaotic, and uncertain social-political time. In the midst of that, he built a community of disciples--students--who were themselves being formed by the gospel of peace and compassion and justice,...

In this All Saints Day stewardship message, Pastor Eric reflects on remembering our ancestors as a way of looking toward a future with hope. In doing so, he invites us to think of ourselves as "ancestors in the making" and reconsider what it is that God is calling us to be stewards of.  Rather than merely passing on possessions, what does it mean to steward "a community of hope" in a world of viol...

In this Stewardship message, Pastor Eric invites us to reflect on one of Jesus' most famous parables--often dubbed the "Parable of the Prodigal Son"--and ask ourselves how God has sought us out, lavished love on us, and invited us into a future where there was hope--just when we were at our lowest and most despairing? How has this church been a space and community that has loved you back to life,...

In this Stewardship season message, Pastor Eric reflects on the Prophet Jeremiah's vision of "a future with hope." What is the relationship between hope and the experience of hopelessness? Between hope and honestly facing reality; honestly facing life's difficulties and hardships? What does it look like to choose hope--to make hope a verb--here and now, and how does doing so transform the future t...

In this Stewardship message, Pastor Eric draws together the story of God calling Abram and Sarai to set out into an unknown future where, despite all signs to the contrary, God promises there will be abundant life, and this quote from Howard Thurman, the great African American theologian, mystic, and mentor to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement: "There are two questions we must ask ourselves....

In this final message of our "This is Us" sermon series, Pastor Eric uses examples from scripture and our own church history to explore the danger of telling a single story--about ourselves, our communities, and about others. Each of us are made up of many stories. We are complex, messy, inconsistent, changing, and ever-growing. How do we hold the fullness of our stories, of who we are, and honor...

In this third message of our "This is Us" sermon series, Pastor Eric explores Federated Church of Sycamore's long-standing commitment to living out our "love of God and neighbor" in the public realm. Listen in for stories about our church's history with abolitionism and the Underground Railroad as we consider the surprising importance--and power--of small communities to...

In this message, Pastor Eric draws on the Prophet Amos, the Letter of James, and the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" as he traces our denominations' history of being at the forefront of the movement for love and justice in society. By exploring this history within the United Church of Christ and Unitarian Universalist Association, we are...

This message, the first in our sermon series “This Is Us,” reflects on the value of unity at the heart of the denominations with which we are affiliated (the United Church of Christ (UCC) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA)). Unity is a buzzword in our society, and for good reason: we are living through a particularly chaotic and divisive time in history. But what does real unity look...

In this message, Pastor Eric continues exploring the role of faith as it intersects with politics and the work of democracy, especially in these hyper-partisan and polarized times. In our world where it's easy and common to focus all our energy and time on arguing about Donald Trump and the dangers he embodies, this message invites us to consider how what we most focus on in him is a projectio...

In our hyper-partisan and polarized world, in the face of genocide enabled by Democrats and the rise of fascism among Republicans, and as we move through another intense election season where it seems democracy itself might be at stake, Pastor Eric asks: What does Jesus’ call to “love your enemy” mean? What does it mean to love your enemy in this context where “winning at all costs” is the goal an...

In this final message in our summer sermon series, "Ask Me Anything," Pastor Eric responds to people's questions related to faith and politics, our hyper-partisan and polarized political climate, and how people can claim to be Christian/follow God and advocate for violence. Here are the questions people posed: Why have christians done so many horrible things in the name of god? There...

In this “Ask Me Anything” message, Pastor Eric responds to questions about Communion: “How did the early church celebrate communion? Did they? Was wine a common household item back then, or only for the well off? How do we get past the famous paintings and sculptures depicting communion if they don't really reflect what happened?” As Pastor Eric reflects on "Jesus's table practice&quo...

In this "Ask Me Anything" summer sermon series message, Pastor Eric responds to THE question that is often most on people's hearts and minds when it comes to God, faith, and life. Our question asker(s) posed it this way: "Why is there so much suffering if a loving God exists? Why are some people spared (like me) and other good people face horrible things--like their child gets c...

In this third installment of our summer sermon series, "Ask Me Anything," Pastor Eric takes some time to offer briefer, on-the-spot responses to several different questions people submitted, determining which questions to respond to by pulling them out of a hat.

In this second installment of our summer sermon series, “Ask Me Anything,” Pastor Eric responds to the questions people posed about Jesus: “What is the historical evidence that Jesus as a man existed—beyond the Bible? Is there any?” “Is it important to accept the divinity of Jesus? I have problems with accepting this—sometimes questioning it. If not, then what does it mean to be a Christian?” To p...

Pastor Eric began our new summer sermon series, “Ask Me Anything,” by exploring the questions people asked around God. Here’s what they were: “The thing I struggle most about when it comes to religion (other than how it's been used to harm) is God and Jesus as males. Why are all spiritual deities male? I just don't know if I can think of God as gendered at all. And why should HE choose a m...

In this message, Pastor Eric reflects on Jesus' emphatic injunction: " Unless you become like children, you cannot inherit/enter the Kingdom of Heaven." Entering the "Kingdom/Realm of Heaven" is not about going somewhere when we die. It is about our ability to enter into the presence of the Divine Mystery here, to truly be receive and be animated by God's Love now. So,...

In this LGBTQ Pride Service message, Pastor Eric reflects on the desire for healing by drawing on the poem "Jesus at the Gay Bar" by British transgender performance poet Jay Hulme as he interprets the story of the hemorrhaging woman in Mark 5. In this poem, healing takes place, but not where expected. In light of this, we might ask: what if the healing that takes place in Mark 5 is also different...