First Congregational Church of Berkeley, Calif. Readings for Laetare Sunday (Fourth Sunday in Lent): 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 The fourth Sunday in Lent, Laetare Sunday, sometimes called Refreshment Sunday, is supposed to be a bright spot, a moment of relief in the otherwise
Temple United Methodist Church, San Francisco, Calif. Reading: Matthew 7:1-5 You get what you give. That’s one of the basic rules of God’s Kingdom. Today’s scripture in Matthew says, “Don’t condemn others, and God won’t condemn you.” You get what you give. “God will treat
Emmanuel Baptist Church, Albany, N.Y. Reading for the Fifth Sunday of Easter: Acts 8:26-40 Introduction: The Ethiopian Eunuch is a fascinating character to me, not only because of who he is, but also because of the way he fits into the scriptures. The baptism of
Fellowship Congregational Church, Tulsa, Okla. Reading for Transfiguration Sunday (Last Sunday after Epiphany): Luke 9:28-36 Early 20th century English writer G. K. Chesterton once defined philosophy as “thinking that had been thought out.” We are influenced, Chesterton went on to say, either by thought that
Fellowship Congregational Church, Tulsa, Okla. Reading for the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany: Luke 5:1-11 You can always tell what is going on in the United States by what people are willing to spend their money on. Books about religion or the sacred are currently better
Cathedral of Hope MCC, Dallas, Texas Readings for the Second Sunday after Epiphany: Isaiah 62:1-5, John 2:1-11 Last year, when planning today’s sermon, the Old Testament reading jumped off the page at me. It speaks of a time when the God’s people felt abandoned and
First Congregational United Church of Christ, Tucson, Ariz. This is how much God loved the world: [God] gave [God’s] Son, [God’s] one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole
First United Methodist Church, Oneonta N.Y. Readings: I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18) We know that in everything God works for good with those who love
Abundant Grace Community Church of Atlanta, Ga. Reading for the 24th Sunday after Pentecost: And in his teaching he said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places and the best seats in
First Unitarian Church of Des Moines, Iowa One of the questions that came up recently in the high school ethics class was “What is the relationship between spirituality and sexuality?” This question wasn’t the first one that challenged me in that class… I thought that