Lessons: Acts 16:9-15 Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5 John 14:23-29 Psalm 67 A couple of years back, the author Douglas Abrams traveled to India to record a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu. The resulting text is called The Book of Joy, and it is an account not just of the week that these twoContinueContinue reading “Sixth Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Category Archives: Sermons
The Fifth Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Acts 11:1-18 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35 Psalm 148 For the past several weeks, the lectionary – the schedule of readings that we follow across the year – has told us stories of resurrection. Beginning today, it returns us to the time before Jesus’ death: to the upper room, to the Last Supper, toContinueContinue reading “The Fifth Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Fourth Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Robert J. Deshaies
Lessons: Acts 9:36-43 Revelation 7:9-17 John 10:22-30 Psalm 23
Third Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Acts 9:1-6, (7-20) Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 Psalm 30 The encounter or the experience that we call conversion is about seeing and being seen. It is about being named. First, seeing and being seen. My vision fell off a cliff around the time that I turned 12. This is not a metaphor. In whatContinueContinue reading “Third Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Second Sunday of Easter by Holly Puckett
Lessons: Acts 5:27-32 Revelation 1:4-8 John 20:19-31 Psalm 118:14-29 Stories, we learned in our early school days in English lessons, are made up of a plot line that has three main parts. A beginning, a middle, and an end. Beginning. Middle. End. That’s a story. Maybe sermons are the same way, but I am goingContinueContinue reading “Second Sunday of Easter by Holly Puckett”
Easter Sunday by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Acts 10:34-43 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Luke 24:1-12 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 We live in the time after the resurrection. And given that, here is the question with which we are confronted. Given the staggering mystery of the empty tomb, what should we do? How should we live? What does resurrection mean? These questions are asContinueContinue reading “Easter Sunday by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
The Great Vigil of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Genesis 1:1-2:4a [The Story of Creation] Genesis 7:1-5, 11-18, 8:6-18, 9:8-13 [The Flood] Exodus 14:10-31; 15:20-21 [Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea] Ezekiel 37:1-14 [The valley of dry bones] Zephaniah 3:14-20 [The gathering of God’s people]
Good Friday by Robb Beck
Lessons: Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Hebrews 10:16-25 John 18:1-19:42 Psalm 22
Maundy Thursday by The Rev. Corbet Clark
Lessons: Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Psalm 116:1, 10-17 What’s the deal with Judas Iscariot? I’ve been thinking a lot about Judas this week. He’s a major player in the Holy Week drama, but we usually hear little about him, except to condemn him for his selling out Jesus toContinueContinue reading “Maundy Thursday by The Rev. Corbet Clark”
Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Luke 19:28-40 Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 Isaiah 50:4-9a Philippians 2:5-11 Luke 22:14-23:56 Psalm 31:9-16 There are moments in our lives that are more than one thing at the same time. These are the moments that are full of big feelings, intense feelings – and they are the moments in which we are surprised to realiseContinueContinue reading “Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday by The Rev. Martin Elfert”