Lawrenceville Christian Church

As you know, Teresa and I usually preach from the Revised Common Lectionary, which gives us a sequence of scriptures for the different seasons of the church year. Some of the lectionary scriptures are familiar stories that are enjoyable to retell and connect to our lives of faith. At other times, the lectionary pushes us out of our comfort zone and into passages that are perplexing, or hard to und...

As we continue our Honest Conversations this week, we will shift our focus to Jesus’s parable of the great banquet. In this simple story of a man who invited the poor and lame to his banquet after the invited guests backed out, we will hear important instructions on how to offer hospitality and welcome to others. As Jesus reminds us, those who are considered unimportant or invisible today are the...

This week we’ll gather around Mark 6: 30–40, Mark’s brief but powerful introduction to the feeding of the five thousand. Unlike the other gospels, Mark begins with weary disciples returning from mission and a tired Jesus seeking rest. Yet when the crowd arrives, Jesus is “moved with compassion”, not just to feel something, but to do something. As Barbara Brown Taylor reminds us, “Jesus doesn’t jus...

This Sunday, we return to our sermon series on feeding the hungry, where we are examining the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in the different gospels. Our focus this week is on the story in the gospel of John. This story has a lot in common with the versions found in the other gospels, but also some unique parts. Did you know that this is the only feeding story that gives credit to a young boy f...

This Sunday, we continue our four‑week journey into the question at the heart of our “Land of Plenty” conversations: How do we ensure that everyone has the food they need to live and thrive? Last week, we began by listening to Matthew’s account of Jesus feeding a hungry crowd, a story that reminded us of God’s deep compassion and God’s desire that all people be cared for. This week, we turn to Luk...

Before we begin talking about how to ensure that everyone has the food they need, it’s important to ground ourselves in scripture. We will take a look at Matthew’s account of Jesus feeding a large crowd with a small amount of food (interestingly enough, the second time Jesus fed a crowd in Matthew’s gospel). We will take a look at the dialogues around the feeding miracle, and we will explore the p...

This Sunday, we continue our Easter journey with a passage spoken in one of the most tender and uncertain moments of Jesus’ ministry. In John 14, Jesus prepares his disciples for life in a world shaped by fear and domination, and he promises them the gift they will need most: the Spirit who will dwell within them and lead them into the truth of God’s love. In a time when it is difficult to see cle...

This Sunday, we have the special opportunity to hear from Hugh Yoon and Paul Yoon, both of whom went on recent mission trips. They will share about their experiences and the places they saw God. We may even get to see some photos! After their presentations, we will honor Hugh, who is graduating from Georgia Tech, and we will pray for others connected to our community who are graduating this spring...

Over the past two Sundays, we have been examining Peter’s first sermon, preached to a large crowd on Pentecost Sunday. This week, we will move from Peter’s first sermon to a description of the first Christian community in Jerusalem — a community that studied and worshipped and prayed and ate together, and shared all of their possessions. Is this the ideal way of living for Christians? What can we...

In the risen Christ, God invites us into a new Spirit‑shaped identity, one that turns us toward hope, transformation, and participation in God’s mission for the world. This Sunday, we continue listening to Peter’s Pentecost sermon in Acts 2, where the risen Jesus is proclaimed as the Messiah who not only fulfills God’s promises but also gives the Holy Spirit to shape a new kind of people. Last wee...

Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed!  The secular world moves on from Easter very quickly. The candy goes on sale, we put away the decorations, and stores set up displays for the next big holiday. But in the Christian church, Easter is so important that we continue to celebrate it for six additional Sundays – a season we call Eastertide. During Eastertide, some of our attention focuses on the...

Christ is risen! Christ is risen, indeed!  Join us this Easter Sunday as we gather in joyful worship to celebrate the hope and new life of the resurrection. This year, we will hear the Easter story through fresh and moving perspectives, that of a Roman soldier who witnessed the events firsthand and guarded the tomb, and Mary Magdalene, whose encounter with the risen Christ transformed her grief in...

This Sunday, as we celebrate Palm Sunday, our worship experience is crafted to draw us into the narrative of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, a moment filled with both celebration and profound spiritual significance. We will hear about the experience from two bystanders watching the events of Holy Week unfold. We’ll explore the layers of meaning behind the waving of palms and the cries of “...

This coming Sunday, we will welcome visitors from The Table, the campus ministry in Athens that Rev. Diane works with. Rev. Haley Lerner, a United Church of Christ minister, will preach that morning about the significance of ecumenical campus ministry, and we hope to have a some campus ministry students join us for worship. Plan to join us for this special Sunday!  See you Sunday morning, in perso...

This Sunday, we pause in the middle of our Lenten journey for Laetare Sunday, a day whose very name means “rejoice.” In a season often marked by reflection and repentance, Laetare offers a gentle lift, an invitation to notice the quiet ways God is already at work, planting hope before we can see its full bloom. Our scripture from 1 Samuel 16:1–13 brings us into one of those hidden moments of grace...

This Sunday, as we continue our journey through the season of Lent, we welcome guest preacher Rev. Donna Gunter to the pulpit. She will preach from Matthew 4: 1 – 11. Here’s how she describes her message:  During the season of Lent we often speak of journeying with Christ to Calvary.  A significant point in his journey was the beginning of what many scholars note as the beginning of his public min...

This Sunday, as we continue our journey through the season of Lent, we will consider a well-known story from John’s gospel – the passage that includes John 3:16 and the instructions about being “born from above” (or “born again”). Nicodemus, a well-known Jewish leader, came to see Jesus in the dark of night. In the course of that conversation, Jesus shared important information about what being a...

This Sunday, as we enter the season of Lent, we take a step back in the early life of Jesus, to the story of Jesus being tested in the wilderness immediately after his baptism. It’s a story of temptations and faithful response. It’s also a story that shows us clearly who Jesus is. As we consider the words of Jesus and the Tempter, we will also reflect on our own identity as followers of Jesus the...

This Sunday, we stand between two mountains in Matthew’s Gospel. Over the past weeks, we’ve listened as Jesus brought the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples, reminding us that true discipleship is more than hearing his words.  It is putting those words into practice. Matthew paints a picture of faith that engages the whole self: head, heart, and will woven together in a life that trusts God and...

This Sunday, we continue exploring the Sermon on the Mount as written in Matthew’s gospel. After describing those who are blessed in the Beatitudes, Jesus spends the rest of the sermon giving instructions to his disciples about how to be followers. The beginning of this instruction passage are two familiar statements: “You are the salt of the earth” and “you are the light of the world.” We will di...

Last Sunday we explored Matthew’s account of the baptism of Jesus. This Sunday, on the third week after Epiphany, we shift to John’s gospel. The author of this fourth gospel paints a different picture of the baptism and call of the first disciples. John the Baptist prepared the world for Jesus by announcing him as the Son of God to all who would listen. When the first two disciples met Jesus, and...

In this season, just after Epiphany, we stand in the glow of a light that reveals who Christ is and who we are called to be. The story of Jesus’ baptism in Matthew 3:13-17 invites us to step into that light with fresh eyes. At the Jordan River, the heavens open, the Spirit descends, and a voice speaks words of identity and belonging: “This is my Son, the Beloved.” It is a moment of revelation, not...

This Sunday, we enter the season of Epiphany, a time when the church celebrates God’s light breaking into the world in ways that reveal truth, expose injustice, and guide us toward hope. Instead of beginning with the familiar story of the Magi in Matthew, we’ll turn first to Psalm 72, which paints a powerful picture of what God’s reign looks like when justice and compassion take root.  Psalm 72 de...

As we arrive at the Fourth Sunday of Advent, we turn our attention to Love – the love that does not remain distant or abstract, but draws close in the most unexpected ways. Our scripture from Isaiah 7 speaks into a moment of fear and uncertainty, offering a sign that God will not abandon the people: “The young woman shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.” Even when King Ahaz r...