The Days Are Surely Coming
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; my God, I put my trust in you (Psalm 25:1) The days of promise and fulfillment are surely coming. The days of justice and righteousness are surely coming. The days of salvation and safety are surely coming. These are words we need to hear this Advent. […]
Do Not Be Afraid
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to […]
Proper 27 Year B- A sermon preached by the Rev. Libby Wade
“Beware of the scribes,” Jesus said. Scribes in ancient Israel were skilled writers and people who understood math well enough to be in charge of legal financial documents. Often they became interpreters and teachers of the Law. Their association with money, power, religion, and politics was perhaps inevitable, and wherever we find that combination of […]
If you believed you would see the glory of God
I was standing outside the church on a beautiful day this summer after the memorial service for a dear friend, Dr. Marcia Dean, when a man approached me to thank me for my words. He began to tell me his memories of Marcia. She was his audiologist. He told me how she took time with […]
“Go, your faith has made you well.”
Jesus and his disciples had stopped in Jericho as they made the long and difficult journey toward Jerusalem. Just outside the gate, a man sat—one who we are told had to depend on the notice and compassion of others to eat and stay warm. His sight was diminished to the point that not only was […]
“What is it you want me to do for you?”
Jesus has for the third time, told his disciples that he will be arrested, put to death, and then on the third day rise from the dead. Each time he has told this to his disciples, he has added more and more details of what is to come. And in Mark 10:32 we hear that […]
Redemption in the Rubble: A sermon preached by Ms. Lee Cheek, Licensed Lay Preacher at the Diocese of Western Massachusetts: Festival of Preaching September 26, 2015
Isaiah 52:3-10, Mark 9:30-50 (Proper 21B) When Dr. Martin Luther King was about to wrap up what was to be a four minute speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, he heard the voice of Mahalia Jackson behind him, urging him to tell the crowd about “the dream.” Though the schedule […]
Getting the picture : A sermon preached by Ms. Lee Cheek, Licensed Lay Preacher on September 20, 2015
When I was growing up in a small farming community in northeast Arkansas, about 50 miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, our home was situated near a right angle turn on Highway 61, which some of you may know as the Blues Highway in the segment that goes from Memphis to Vicksburg, Mississippi. There was a […]
Yoked together
We started out as classmates, people who shared space in a classroom learning about history and theology and worship planning, Greek and Hebrew. But as the days and weeks passed we each in our own way were growing tired and burdened. The work was demanding and the reading seemed insurmountable. And then one of us […]
Whoever is not against us is for us
We have been watching this man from a distance, listening to his brave and inspirational words and watching his acts of heart-opening compassion. And now he is here among us, in this country, and thousands have turned out just to watch his tiny Fiat drive by or catch a glimpse of him as he moves […]