Things to Ponder

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...

Sermon Text: Matthew 3:13 -17   Today, we celebrated the baptism of Everett! So we wondered about the sacrament of baptism: what is the truest thing about us? At its core, baptism is a desire to say unequivocally the truest thing about you, That you are the beloved child of God. Full stop. And that is why we baptize children. We want to say it before anyone else whispers anything else to you. Befo...

Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 17; Matthew 14:13-21   Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-.. .

Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 3:9b-14   Follow St. Mary's: https://www.facebook.com/stmarysunite.. . https://www.instagram.com/stmarysucc/   Want to support the work of St. Mary's? https://www.eservicepayments.com/cgi-.. .

Sermon Text: John 15; Ephesians 4   We concluded our series on the windows by looking at the final two, representing baptism and communion. What are the sacraments, and what do they do? We talked about the remarkable gift they are. Then we stepped back and looked at the sanctuary in its fullness - what is the message of this place? Short answer? In our deepest heart, God meets us with love and bid...

Sermon Text: Revelation 4:6-8   Today we looked at the traditional symbols for the four gospels in our windows, and discovered these images come from Scripture itself! They are a reminder that every time we open Scripture, we are brought into the presence of God in a powerful way. the Bible is intended to point us to Christ, and the Bible is only life-changing as we allow Christ to shine through i...

Sermon Text: Colossians 1   Today, we released a new logo! Logos - and imagery of all kinds - makes our feelings, beliefs, and visions tangible. But the Bible is notoriously skeptical of images, because we can't capture God in a finite image. But what if God GAVE us an image? In Christ, God did. And all of our images are intended to point back to that singular image - Jesus crucified, resurrected,...

Sermon Text: 1 John 4   Trinity Sunday is one of a very few Sundays where we celebrate a doctrine. But what does the doctrine of the "Trinity" actually do for us? In the Trinity, God is a swirling, living, breathing experience of love. By being 3-in-1, God can be love in God's very essence. And through the Holy Spirit in us, we participate in that life. To be disciples, then, is to go seeking to g...

Sermon Text: Acts 2   The apostles waited eagerly for the sending of the Holy Spirit, and on that Pentecost Sunday the Spirit was sent and the gospel began its spread across the world, until it reaches us. We are the people the apostles were praying for. In the same way, this congregation has prayed for an outpouring of God's Spirit, and today we confirmed 6 students into the faith and family of J...

Sermon Text: Acts 1, Ephesians 1   Good theology starts with a simple question: Where is Jesus' body? On Ascension, we celebrate that Jesus' body goes to the right hand of God. He is above all powers, and fills all things, and our citizenship is in heaven. Church, then, is the place to experience heaven right now, and our responsibility is to join Jesus in bringing heaven's life to earth, "Thy Kin...

Sermon Text: John 14:1-14   In his resurrection, Christ has created a new home for us. "But how do we get there?" Thomas asked. It can feel that way for us as well. How do we get to resurrected life? Jesus gives us three metaphors, "way, truth, and life." As we commit our lives to Jesus and follow in his way, his truth, and his life, the Kingdom is made real in us.   Bonus Content begins at 21:55....