Words of Welcome

  Edwards Hickes, Peacable Kingdom Romans 15:4-13 This morning, we lit the Candle of Peace, which reminds us that this is not only the Second Sunday of Advent, it is Peace Sunday. Peace is something we all hope for, but which always seems beyond our grasp. World War I was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. Twenty years later, an even bigger war took place. This year, Peace Sunday falls on December 7th, the day Franklin Roosevelt declared would live in infamy. Having visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on two occasions, I felt the presence of those lives lost that day. But that war didn’t bring an end to human wars. Many more were to come. There were wars in Korea and then Vietnam. I remember in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, there was talk of a peace dividend for the American defense budget. But that talk didn’t last long because war came to the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. For nearly four years, we’ve watched the Russians devastate Ukraine, h...

  Lorenzo Scott, Baptism of Jesus Matthew 3:13-17 Who do you think you are? That question might sound a little harsh, but I mean it in a positive way. Since this is Baptism of Jesus Sunday, we get to reflect on Jesus’ baptism as well as our own. In our reading from Matthew 3 this morning, God reveals something important about Jesus, but also about each of us. Paul writes in Romans 6 that baptism allows us to participate in the life of Jesus. So how might the word that God speaks concerning Jesus’ identity at his baptism help us define our own identity? Might we also be numbered among the beloved children of God, with whom God is well pleased? It wasn’t that long ago that we were celebrating the birth of Jesus. We got to sing carols, light candles, and ponder the message of Jesus’ birth. That celebration continued through Friday when the season of Epiphany began with the magi’s visit to the Holy Family. This morning we jump forward several decades. The baby Jesus is now a full...

  Philippians 4:4-9 We’ve finally lit the pink candle. People often wonder why the Advent wreath has a pink candle. They also want to know when to light it, especially if they are tasked with lighting the candles. Well, here’s the reason why we have a pink candle and light it on the Third Sunday of Advent. It’s pink and we light it on the Third Sunday of Advent because today is, according to tradition, Joy Sunday. Although we’re following a more recent tradition and using blue, the usual color scheme for Advent is purple. Purple is considered to be a more solemn color. That’s why we use it during Lent. Both Advent and Lent are supposed to be seasons of reflection and repentance in preparation for a major liturgical event. If that’s true, it seems appropriate to use a softer color on Joy Sunday. After all, how can you be somber on a day when you hear Paul call on us to “rejoice in the Lord always?” Although Paul is sitting in a prison cell and has every reason to be bitter and a...

  Philippians 1:3-11 Last Sunday, we lit the candle of hope. Today we light the Peace candle. The message of peace is found in Paul’s greeting in his letter to the Philippian church. He offers a word of “grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ” ( Phil. 1:2 ) This word of peace comes from Paul even as he sits in a jail cell, and he is at peace with God and the world because of the partnership that exists between himself and the congregation at Philippi. Paul speaks here of his prayer that love would overflow them as they live as partners in God’s grace, which leads to a “harvest of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” It is this partnership that is rooted in love and grace that leads to the harvest of righteousness that serves as the source of Paul’s joy as he sits in a prison cell. What Paul is talking about here is an intimate friendship with the Philippians that brings joy even as he sits in this jail cell. He...

  Reminder, by Mike Moyers Genesis 9:8-17 We serve a covenant-making God. As we journey through Lent, we will encounter some of the covenants present in the Old Testament. We’ll reflect on what these covenants say to us as a congregation and as individuals.  We begin this morning with a unilateral covenant that God makes with all creation. It speaks of God’s faithfulness but it doesn’t impose any specific requirements on us. This one applies to God and God alone, but this covenant offers us a word of hope. That is because it guarantees God’s faithfulness to the covenant. While this covenant doesn’t require anything of us, if we take the word we hear this morning to heart, perhaps we can embody its message in our own relationships. This first covenant provides the foundation for every other covenant, including the one that binds us together as a church. When the Disciples of Christ restructured itself as a denomination in the 1960s, the denomination chose the biblical con...

Psalm 85:8-13 According to our UCC friends, “God is still speaking.” While I would agree, what is God saying to us? So, as the Psalmist declares: let us “hear what God the Lord will speak.” And, let us not only listen to the Lord, but following the Hebrew, which might be in the footnotes, let us not return to folly. It’s believed that this Psalm was written after the end of the Babylonian exile. Therefore, the Psalmist, asks the people how they will live in this new post-exilic reality. Will they follow God’s lead or turn back to the folly that led to the exile? I don’t know about you, but it feels like we’re in a season of exile. Life is anything but normal. We can’t go to the movies or gather together in large groups. While outdoors is better than indoors, nothing is completely safe. Professional baseball and basketball have returned but without fans. The NFL and the NCAA authorities are trying to figure out how to play football this fall. I will admit that I’m a bit ...

Zechariah 9:9-12 Yesterday the nation celebrated Independence Day, though this year the celebration was somewhat muted. Most parades, public fireworks displays, carnivals, and other “normal” events were canceled. But, maybe we can use this moment to envision a freedom that extends beyond the nation. Maybe we can use this time to envision what God’s realm looks like. The reading for today from Zechariah 9 invites us to reflect on a different kind of parade from the ones we normally experience on the 4th of July. Jesus embodied this vision in his “Triumphal Entry” on Palm Sunday when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of joy. While we can’t avoid the connection to Palm Sunday, perhaps we can take a broader look at Zechariah’s message. With Zechariah, perhaps we can ponder what the restoration of peace might look like as God’s dominion extends from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. We rarely turn to Zechariah, which is the second t...

Romans 5:1-11 You may have seen those “Keep Calm” posters. You may even have one in your house. You know the ones that say “Keep Calm and Carry On!” Or, it might be one of many variations on that theme. But, what do you do when life is anything but calm? We are experiencing just such a moment. We face a Coronavirus or more specifically a COVID-19 pandemic that has unknown consequences for us. We don’t know its full extent because there aren’t yet enough tests to go around and a vaccine for the virus is probably months away. Even if the virus appears to go away when summer arrives, it might come back next winter. Hopefully, there’ll be a vaccine by then, but we don’t know for sure. So, in the meantime we wait, trying to find a way forward.  This uncertainty about our situation is wreaking havoc on our society. The stock market crashed into bear territory, leaving many ordinary people wondering about their financial well-being. Universities are moving classes o...

John  14:23-29 We are one step further along the path that leads from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. One of the benefits of these seven weeks of Eastertide is that we get to hear more of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse” that runs from John 14 to 17 . These words are intended to be heard as Jesus’ final instructions to the community that will carry the good news to the world. They are spoken, according to John, on the final evening of his life, but we hear them in worship as part of the season that follows the resurrection. As I read this “Farewell Discourse,” what I hear is a word of encouragement. Jesus may be leaving them physically, but he is not abandoning them. He goes to the Father, but the Father will send the Paraclete, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit. So, don’t be afraid. Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Instead, rejoice at what is to come.  In the Gospel of John, the Father sends the Holy Spirit to be the continuing presence of Jesus with the church, te...