by Carol Burns | Aug 20, 2023
In November 2001, I traveled with my brother in Chile. I was a pastor in New York City at the time, and the cumulative weight of responding to the September 11 attacks was weighing heavily on our pastoral staff, so we each swapped out a week’s vacation to recover. I...
by Rev. Dr. Ginny Smith | Aug 13, 2023
Scripture Reading: John 3:1-17 The gifted humorist Will Rogers once stated: “About the time one learns to make the most of life, the time is gone.” There’s tremendous truth in this. We spend a great deal of time trying to clarify our lives, to put it into a coherent...
by Rev. Suzanne Trump | Aug 6, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 14:13–21 Text Focus Sentence: Jesus withdrew to be alone but the crowds followed him and he had compassion on them curing the sick and feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Sermon Focus Sentence: Jesus instructs the disciples to feed the...
by Carol Burns | Jul 30, 2023
When I was traveling in Turkey many years ago, I had the opportunity to attend the annual Turkish wrestling festival near Edirne, which is a smallish, non-descript town several hours west of Istanbul (near the border with Macedonia, Greece, and Bulgaria), with nothing...
by Rev. Cynthia Leslie Simmons | Jul 23, 2023
Note: Prior to the sermon, Pastor Simmons and Pastor Clifton presented the children’s book “The Runaway Bunny” in dramatic form as a modern parable to help understand the scripture. Francis Thompson was an English poet who, in 1890, published a poem called The Hound...
by Rev. Suzanne Trump | Jul 16, 2023
Luke 14: 1, 7-14 Text Focus Sentence: Jesus encourages disciples to invest their hearts and live fully into God’s reign. Instead of facing life with fear, those who know God’s generosity are always ready to receive from God and give to others. Sermon Focus...
