Sermon Title: "United in the Holy Spirit"
I focused on how the Holy Spirit unites us as believers and the difference between spiritual love and emotional love. The refugee family the church sponsored from Vietnam 30 years ago was with us to celebrate and say goodbye before moving to another state to be near grandchildren. My goal was to highlight the oneness we experience with other Christians that only comes through the love of Christ, without sugar coating the often messy reality of community together.
The end of this video shows the benediction.
Video run time: 16 minutes
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Church Newsletter Article for April 2010
The Road to Emmaus
After the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples. But they didn’t recognize who he was until he sat down and broke the bread with them, just as he had done at The Last Supper and many times before.
Luke 24:28-35
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
When I read this story I thought about how often we don’t recognize when God is at work in our lives until much later, maybe years later. We suddenly realize that what we went through, be it good times or bad, that God’s hand was moving in our lives.
In college I signed up for a course on Israel, at the end of the course we went to Israel for a 10 day tour. At that time I had no plans of going into ministry. I wasn’t going so much for the religious reasons, in fact there were other trips I could choose from, but I wanted to see the place that was talked about in the news all the time. I wanted to try and understand some of the political situation and going with a professor we were given a lot of information that regular tourists might not get.
Little did I know that years later as I studied scripture, I would be able to picture the landscape, the climate, even some of the places that scripture talks about. I believe it was one of the ways God was preparing me for ministry even before I knew it myself. It would be five more years before I thought about going to seminary.
God is preparing you for something now, he is walking beside you just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We don’t know what he has planned, but he will reveal it to us just as he revealed himself to his disciples at the right time. Our job is to be observant in our everyday experiences-they may be part of what God has in store for us in the future.
May your Easter celebration be filled with the joy and hope of the Risen Christ!
Pastor Denise
After the resurrection Jesus appeared to the disciples. But they didn’t recognize who he was until he sat down and broke the bread with them, just as he had done at The Last Supper and many times before.
Luke 24:28-35
As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them.
30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
When I read this story I thought about how often we don’t recognize when God is at work in our lives until much later, maybe years later. We suddenly realize that what we went through, be it good times or bad, that God’s hand was moving in our lives.
In college I signed up for a course on Israel, at the end of the course we went to Israel for a 10 day tour. At that time I had no plans of going into ministry. I wasn’t going so much for the religious reasons, in fact there were other trips I could choose from, but I wanted to see the place that was talked about in the news all the time. I wanted to try and understand some of the political situation and going with a professor we were given a lot of information that regular tourists might not get.
Little did I know that years later as I studied scripture, I would be able to picture the landscape, the climate, even some of the places that scripture talks about. I believe it was one of the ways God was preparing me for ministry even before I knew it myself. It would be five more years before I thought about going to seminary.
God is preparing you for something now, he is walking beside you just like the disciples on the road to Emmaus. We don’t know what he has planned, but he will reveal it to us just as he revealed himself to his disciples at the right time. Our job is to be observant in our everyday experiences-they may be part of what God has in store for us in the future.
May your Easter celebration be filled with the joy and hope of the Risen Christ!
Pastor Denise
Monday, April 27, 2009
What does it take to follow Jesus?
This is a sermon that I preached on January 25th, 2009. I videotaped it in April in an empty room to show a less formal style of preaching. The texts that were read in the worship service that Sunday were from Jonah 3:1-5, 10, I Corinthians 7:29-31 and Mark 1:14-20.
This clip is 23 minutes long.
This clip is 23 minutes long.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Acts 19:1-7 Sermon on Baptism
This sermon was preached on January 11th. The text was taken from the Lectionary for this Sunday, The Baptism of Jesus. In meeting with members of the church to discuss the text beforehand, I found out there were a lot of background details that they needed to know in order to begin to understand what the text was talking about. Who are the disciples that are mentioned? Who is Apollos? Why doesn't he know about the Holy Spirit? These are some questions I try to answer in my long introduction.
The second half of the sermon focuses on when and how the Holy Spirit enters into our life based on examples from scripture, and then I go over several reasons for baptism.
My husband did the filming, and is still working on the correct aspect ratio. At the end of the sermon while the organ is playing the camera pans the front of the church. This video is 25 minutes long.
The second half of the sermon focuses on when and how the Holy Spirit enters into our life based on examples from scripture, and then I go over several reasons for baptism.
My husband did the filming, and is still working on the correct aspect ratio. At the end of the sermon while the organ is playing the camera pans the front of the church. This video is 25 minutes long.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
This sermon was preached to my congregation last Sunday Dec. 14, 2008. I am part of a preaching cohort of Covenant pastors and as part of the cohort assignment I met with a group of six church members for a meeting a week before the sermon. We looked at the text together. They gave me their questions and opinions about what they would bring out of this text. I decided to try a first person narrative to bring out Mary's joy, fear, and sacrifice.
The main point of the sermon is that God uses ordinary people when we are willing to say "yes" to him. In the conversation about the text I also realized many members did not understand the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth or why it was so scandalous for Mary to be pregnant during her engagement year. I wanted to answer some of their questions on the culture of that day as well in the sermon.
The congregation is mainly older, working class, many people in their 70's and 80's, a few are college educated. The service is traditional and somewhat formal. As a younger woman speaking to generations my grandparents and parents ages I stand behind the pulpit and wear the alb and stole to give me some pastoral authority.
The video is 18 minutes long. Services usually last one hour with about 20 minutes of preaching.
The main point of the sermon is that God uses ordinary people when we are willing to say "yes" to him. In the conversation about the text I also realized many members did not understand the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth or why it was so scandalous for Mary to be pregnant during her engagement year. I wanted to answer some of their questions on the culture of that day as well in the sermon.
The congregation is mainly older, working class, many people in their 70's and 80's, a few are college educated. The service is traditional and somewhat formal. As a younger woman speaking to generations my grandparents and parents ages I stand behind the pulpit and wear the alb and stole to give me some pastoral authority.
The video is 18 minutes long. Services usually last one hour with about 20 minutes of preaching.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Newsletter Article for April 2008
American Politics
Occasionally I am asked what candidates I like or who I am thinking of voting for. “Is there a “Christian” way to vote?”
I know believers with strong faith who have different political views; Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, and everything in-between. There are many faith related reasons people vote one way or another; protection of our freedoms, right to life issues, candidates’ statements of faith and religious background, issues of the treatment of the poor and children, fair wages, healthcare access. All of these are good “Christian” reasons to vote for one candidate or another.
In this presidential election campaign race, age and gender play into discussion of political issues as well. We have young, old, white, black, men and women candidates running for office. And despite our best attempts to be unbiased, we all have human biases and stereotypes that influence our thinking. The best we can do is educate ourselves on the facts of each candidate, judging not on their race, age or gender, but on their leadership qualities, their character, and their decision making abilities.
Not only do Christians differ on which party or candidate to vote for; there are also differing opinions on how involved we are to be in the government. There are Christians on both the Right and the Left that believe we should be heavily involved in politics, as we are called to be a nation with Christian values. We are to be represented and involved in government making decisions based on the tenets of our faith. There are also Christians who say we are to keep the separation of church and state protected, and work on building our society through our churches and our witness to the world. For example, think of the Amish, who by their lifestyle and values witness faith to their neighbors.
My point of writing this newsletter article is this: don’t let someone else tell you what is the “Christian” way to vote or way to respond to the politics of our nation. (even your pastor!) Don’t believe every e-mail forward, or newspaper columnist, or rumor that you hear about candidates. There may be things that are true in these, but most likely the truth is mixed with speculation.
Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t say much about politics, the ancient people did not vote; they were appointed rulers. In fact it wasn’t so long ago in world history that democracy was considered un-Christian. (The king and queen were considered divinely appointed, to think otherwise was blaspheme.)
The Scriptures do say that we are to be men and women of integrity of character, of truth, of love and mercy, we are to have compassion on the poor, the orphan, the widow, we are to uphold justice and be obedient to those who run our governments. How we vote is just as important as how we relate to one another in political discussions, even those who differ from us in opinions.
We do know that God will work his purposes out in the world as he sees fit, he does not need our democracy or government to get his work done. He can and will use us as we are willing to be part of his kingdom, but we must remember his greatest work in the world was done through a carpenter born in a stable.
In Christ,
Pastor Denise.
Occasionally I am asked what candidates I like or who I am thinking of voting for. “Is there a “Christian” way to vote?”
I know believers with strong faith who have different political views; Republican, Democrat, liberal, conservative, and everything in-between. There are many faith related reasons people vote one way or another; protection of our freedoms, right to life issues, candidates’ statements of faith and religious background, issues of the treatment of the poor and children, fair wages, healthcare access. All of these are good “Christian” reasons to vote for one candidate or another.
In this presidential election campaign race, age and gender play into discussion of political issues as well. We have young, old, white, black, men and women candidates running for office. And despite our best attempts to be unbiased, we all have human biases and stereotypes that influence our thinking. The best we can do is educate ourselves on the facts of each candidate, judging not on their race, age or gender, but on their leadership qualities, their character, and their decision making abilities.
Not only do Christians differ on which party or candidate to vote for; there are also differing opinions on how involved we are to be in the government. There are Christians on both the Right and the Left that believe we should be heavily involved in politics, as we are called to be a nation with Christian values. We are to be represented and involved in government making decisions based on the tenets of our faith. There are also Christians who say we are to keep the separation of church and state protected, and work on building our society through our churches and our witness to the world. For example, think of the Amish, who by their lifestyle and values witness faith to their neighbors.
My point of writing this newsletter article is this: don’t let someone else tell you what is the “Christian” way to vote or way to respond to the politics of our nation. (even your pastor!) Don’t believe every e-mail forward, or newspaper columnist, or rumor that you hear about candidates. There may be things that are true in these, but most likely the truth is mixed with speculation.
Unfortunately, Jesus didn’t say much about politics, the ancient people did not vote; they were appointed rulers. In fact it wasn’t so long ago in world history that democracy was considered un-Christian. (The king and queen were considered divinely appointed, to think otherwise was blaspheme.)
The Scriptures do say that we are to be men and women of integrity of character, of truth, of love and mercy, we are to have compassion on the poor, the orphan, the widow, we are to uphold justice and be obedient to those who run our governments. How we vote is just as important as how we relate to one another in political discussions, even those who differ from us in opinions.
We do know that God will work his purposes out in the world as he sees fit, he does not need our democracy or government to get his work done. He can and will use us as we are willing to be part of his kingdom, but we must remember his greatest work in the world was done through a carpenter born in a stable.
In Christ,
Pastor Denise.
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