April Fools! (4/1/18)

Isaiah 25:6-9; Mark16:1-8; John 20:1-18

Jackie Twedell, "Weeping Mary"

When I saw that Easter Sunday fell on April first, I couldn't resist using "April Fools!" as the title for my sermon. On Easter Sunday, we considered two different accounts of Easter morning, as presented in the Gospels of Mark and John.

It Is Finished (3/30/18)

James Tissot, What Our Lord Saw from the Cross

Every year, on Good Friday, the Belle Vernon Area Ministerium hosts a seven-last-words service. The service lasts three hours and each pastor offers a sermon on each of Jesus' seven last words. It's quite an event. Some people come for the entire service, while many others stay for a sermon or two.

The World Turned Upside Down (3/29/18)

Exodus 12:1-14; 1Corinthians 11:23-36

John Trumbull, Surrender of Lord Cornwallis

I'm really behind in posting my sermons. This sermon is from Maundy Thursday. It was a small service, held in the church social hall. We had a little over twenty people in attendance. I really enjoy the intimacy of those services.

Jesus Is Comin’ to Town! (3/25/18)

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29; John12:12-19

Wilhelm Morgner, Entry of Christ into Jerusalem

On Sunday, March 25th, we heard the story of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as it's told in the Gospel of John. It's the shortest of the four accounts of Palm Sunday. In the introduction to the sermon, I sang a little bit of Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town." Alas, no audio of this event survives.

Seeing Jesus (3/18/18)

Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 12:20-33

 Wheat

By User:Bluemoose - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=333105

I've officiated a lot of funerals since I began my ministry at Rehoboth Presbyterian Church. I've seen lots of flowers in funeral homes, and sometimes those floral arrangements include a spray of wheat. On Sunday, March 18th, we heard a story from the Gospel of John in which Jesus compares his death and resurrection to wheat being planted in the ground. This sermon also includes an important lesson that I learned from Rev. Dave Carver when I was in seminary.

Visible Promises, Abundant Mercies (3/11/18)

Numbers 21:4-9; John 3:14-21

Coventry Cathedral, baptistery window by John Piper 

On Sunday, March 11th, we celebrated the sacrament of baptism as we welcomed Mason O'Casek into the family of saints here at Rehoboth Presbyterian Church. We also heard the story of Moses and the bronze serpent, one of the most unusual stories from the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as a very, very familiar passage from the Gospel of John.

The Thirteen Commandments (3/4/18)

Exodus 20:1-17; John2:13-22

 Lucas Cranach, The Ten Commandments

On Sunday, March 4th, we examined the Ten Commandments, as they appear in the Book of Exodus. This is one of those Bible stories that is so familiar, that sometimes we don't pay close enough attention to it. Even worse, we tend to view it as simply a checklist of behaviors that we have to follow, rather than understanding it as part of a larger covenant between God and humanity.