By Joanna Lawrence Shenk This is the fourth sermon in our Lenten series on “Spirit and Power.” John 15:1-17 Over the last week elders have been on my mind. Elders who are made vulnerable by the spread of COVID-19. Elders in San Francisco who Faith in Action is organizing people to call. Elders in my…
This sermon is the third in an Advent series on “Spanning the Space Between.” Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11 I recently saw a photograph of last spring’s “super bloom” of California wildflowers. It looked like someone took a palette of paints and dumped them over the desert hills — purples, oranges, yellows, blues. Supposedly the bloom…
This sermon is the second in an Advent series entitled “Spanning the Space Between.” Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12 A few years back, Jennette arranged a camping trip to Lake Tahoe for our church. It had been awhile since I’d been there, and I was surprised and saddened by the sight of so many dead pine…
Matthew 6:25-34 On this Sunday before Thanksgiving, Philip McGarvey and Tree gave reflections on what it means to live a life of trusting provision, trusting that our needs will be provided for — by the Divine, by the land, etc. The first reflection is by Philip: Dear friends, I’m writing to you from the south…
Luke 21:5-19 On the morning that I had set aside to begin this sermon, I kept not getting to it because I kept getting news of people dying. One was Kent Barnes’ father, who death was somewhat expected and was, in many respects, a mercy. But another one was Karen Bennett’s brother-in-law, who had gone…
This sermon was preached on All Saints Day. Selections from Isaiah 40 We are made from this earth. God took the dust of the ground — adamah in Hebrew — and breathed into it to make us — adam. And one day, we return to it. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Our name —…
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