Laughter and Resistance—1 John 1: 1-8a 2nd Sunday after Easter Sunday School Activities Amid so much seriousness these days, you may wonder if there’s a place for joking around and laughing—a pandemic lockdown and all the stress that goes with it, racism in our lives, the news and social media feeds, economic anxiety and inequality and a great deal of unpredictability and…
You are not alone. Come share the journey.
You are not alone. Come share the journey.
Sermons by Rev. Joe Gaspar
Sunday School Activities Mark 11: 1-11 If you follow me on Facebook, you’ll know that I’m heartbroken and angry about the state of the world right now. But, let me begin with one year ago. Last year for Palm Sunday, at the beginning of the pandemic I compared the inner struggle and courage of essential workers to the inner struggle and courage…
Sunday School Activities Fourth Sunday in Lent Mark Twain once said “When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.” In matters of faith, I have been arrogant,…
Sunday School Activities Genesis 17: 1-8, 15-16 2nd Lent Here’s the thing about this scripture and others like it that speak of the covenant between God, the patriarchs of Israel and the promise of a land for the Hebrew people that was already inhabited. I can’t read these scriptures without thinking about what’s going on in that part of the world today. …
Sunday School Activities “My hope is always when people take their faith and put into action”. This Black History Month challenges us to ask, how we get to that place of hope where our faith is put into action in service to racial justice? Last week we began to talk about the anti-racism journey as one that is never finished, a lifelong…
Sunday School Activities Genesis 1: 25-27 (February 7, 2021-5th Epiphany) Betty Pries is someone Heather and I have worked with for a couple of years now. Betty, among many other things is a leadership consultant who specializes in churches. She’s helped us develop our team ministry. Recently she wrote an article for her newsletter on churches and the work of anti-racism. It…
Wisdom and Awe- Matthew 2: 1-12 (January 3, 2020-Epiphany) I invite you to conjure for a moment in your mind images of wise people who have entered your life. What is it about these people that make them wise? What sets them apart from those you don’t consider so wise? It’s only natural to consider such a question on a day when…
Voices United Choir – Can You See the Light in Bethlehem Sunday School Activities Advent Devotion – Do Not Be Afraid Family Advent Calendar Burnt Barns, Moon Sightings and a Pandemic Christmas—Matthew 1: 18-25 This is the kind of week where preachers earn their pay, preaching joy in the midst of a pandemic Christmas. It was a week where I was reminded…
Voices United Choir – Jubilate Deo Sunday School Activities – Advent Advent Calendar for Families Devotional – Advent Reflection—Jeremiah 33: 14-16 (November 29, 2020—1st Sunday in Advent) I came across a quote this week that struck me as a fitting summary for the scripture reading, it goes like this, “Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if…
Sunday School Activities The Grace of Not Knowing—Matthew 25: 14-30 (November 15, 2020-24th Sunday after Pentecost) When I sit down to write a reflection part of my process is to go back and read what I’ve written previously. They’re little time capsules these old sermons. Reading them I’m reminded of what was going on in the world or the church at that…