2011
Sermons
Dez 28 - Sorrow, Hope, and Fulfillment
Dez 25 - Et incarnatus est
Dez 24 - Extreme Humility
Dez 24 - Becoming Simple Gifts
Dez 18 - Annunciation
Dez 11 - Rejoice! Good News!
Dez 7 - Separated
Dez 5 - Greetings!
Dez 4 - Heralds!
Nov 27 - Look back, look ahead, look around
Nov 20 - Accountable?
Nov 13 - Encouragement of the Future Present
Nov 11 - Key Words for Veterans' Day
Nov 6 - To Pray without Ceasing
Okt 30 - The Spirit's Work Continues
Okt 23 - Holy Is and Holy Does
Okt 9 - Welcome to the Banquet
Okt 2 - Judgments Final and Otherwise
Sep 25 - Invitation to the Dance
Sep 18 - What kind of Life?
Sep 11 - Forgiven Living
Sep 4 - Debt-free
Aug 28 - Did Jesus say "Pick up your sox." or "Be who you truly are."?
Aug 21 - The Community of Storytellers
Aug 15 - Baptized into Hope
Aug 11 - Sacrifice
Aug 7 - Called and Sent through Water
Aug 5 - In Spite of Sorrow
Jul 31 - Extravagant Abundance
Jul 24 - Kingdom, Crisis, Opportunity
Jul 17 - It's God's Harvest
Jul 10 - Unexpected Results
Jul 3 - A Burden
Jun 26 - True Hospitality
Jun 19 - Gather in awe; go with resolve and joy
Jun 12 - Church Disrupted
Jun 11 - An Argument with God
Jun 10 - Abide with us, Lord
Jun 5 - Silent Action, Active Silence
Mai 29 - Hollow or Full?
Mai 22 - Stoned because of a Sermon
Mai 15 - Life Abundant
Mai 14 - And Jacob Was Blessed
Mai 13 - Fresh Every Morning
Mai 12 - Of First Importance
Mai 8 - Emmaus keeps happening!
Mai 1 - So Great a Treasure
Apr 24 - Easter Earthquake
Apr 23 - Storytellers
Apr 22 - Completed
Apr 22 - The Tomb, Jonah, and Jesus
Apr 21 - Anamnesis – Remembrance
Apr 17 - What Kind of King?
Apr 10 - Can these bones live?
Apr 3 - Nit-pickers, Wound-Lickers, Goodness-Sakers, and Arm-Wavers
Mrz 27 - Inside, Outside, Upside-down
Mrz 20 - More Contrasts
Mrz 13 - Contrasts
Mrz 9 - Stop...and Turn
Mrz 7 - We're So Blessed
Mrz 6 - The Fellowship of Fear
Feb 20 - Holy and Perfect
Feb 13 - Blessed, for what?
Feb 12 - Barriers Broken
Feb 6 - Salt and Light
Jan 30 - The Future Present
Jan 23 - Come and See, Go and Do
Jan 16 - Come and See
Jan 13 - Time
Jan 9 - Servant of the Most High
Jan 5 - Rise, Shine
Jan 2 - The World's No and God's Yes
Jan 2 - Word and words
Rejoice! Good News!
Third Sunday of Advent- December 11, 2011
Let all who now hear it,
let all now say it: Good news.
It begins with our hearing Good news.
Then it moves to our living Good news.
It began in the desert,
a place lone and silent;
where we whisper the question: Good news?
where we draw away
from sin-filled commotion
yet knowing that with us
remains that deep stain
which can only be washed by Good news.
We wash ourselves, wash ourselves,
and wash yet again,
and still sin remains, scarlet.
The people in that desert,
with centuries of effort
have tried to clean up,
to prepare for Messiah.
And what do we get
with all of that effort?
Frustration, confusion,
and an absence of peace.
What do we lack?
We know what it is: Good news.
Arose one named John
announcing what we need:
Good news.
Not by ourselves,
by working ever harder
will we force the Messiah
to come to us.
But by hearing it gladly --
salvation, God's love:
It's a gift, for us! Good news.
We come to the river,
like a mill-race, this Jordan.
Another will wash us;
We do it not ourselves: Good news.
As a sign of the promise
of God ever with us,
effectively blessing us,
Good news!
So, now to the living of Good news.
The promise, once given,
continues its work
its life-giving effect: Good news.
We follow the prophet, we do as he did,
we too are anointed,
and sent as he was,
to bring to the burdened Good news.
To Dalton, now baptized,
and to all of of the people
who gathered around him,
it is Good news.
To everyone who comes
to Christ's holy table,
there is Good news.
To all who discover
that possessions they have
will not endure,
there is Good news.
To those who now know
that naught else is worth trusting, there is Good news.
To all who are strengthened,
ready now for service,
enabled for action
for the life of the world,
There is Good news:
--When we bind broken hearts,
hearts that are grieving,
it is Good news.
--When we speak words of hope
to a neighbor who can see
nothing for tomorrow,
it is Good news.
--When we pray without ceasing,
giving thanks at all times,
it is Good news.
--When we test everything,
holding fast to the truth,
it is Good news.
--when we listen for the Spirit,
when we study God's Word,
it is Good news.
--When we ask a dear neighbor
to join us here in worship,
it is Good news.
--When we plant the seeds
and are satisfied to leave
the harvest to others,
it is Good news.
--When we trust that God's plan
will finally be fulfilled,
it is Good news.
--When there is room in our hearts
and room in our minds
for God and for other people,
it is Good news.
--When we join with the song
of the church of all time
in the great hymn of praise,
the hymn that now traces
the actions of God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit
through John, through Isaiah,
through Paul, you, and me,
it is Good news.
In spite of earthquake and hurricane,
in spite of illness and sorrow,
in spite of disaster, large or small,
in spite of budget and worry,
in spite of centuries of waiting
for the fullness of time,
the completion of God's plan,
still there is Good news.
It begins in our hearing
of Jesus' life, death and rising
for us, yes, for us: Good news.
It moves through our living,
in all that we do
and all that we say:
Good news.
Let all who now hear it
believe it and trust it,
live it and say it: Good news. Amen
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Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him. |