Sermons tagged with ‘Rona Kinsley’

110 of 26 items

08-13-2017 – “Stepping Out in Faith”

by

So I hope you will have enough faith in the future – in the excitement of calling and working with a new settled pastor, in the satisfying work of making the goals of the strategic plan a reality, in exploring the new ways you might be called to be the church, and most of all, in God’s ongoing care for Christ’s church – to commit your time, your talent and yes, your treasure, to ensuring that this is a vital UCC congregation for years to come.

07-23-2017 – “Wheat and Weeds”

by

The Parable of the Weeds Among the Wheat isn’t an easy one, and so, before I deal with the parable itself, I want to say a little about the gospels and their authors. The word “gospel” comes from an Old English word meaning “good news,” so what we have in the gospels is the good news about Jesus Christ. And we have it in not one but four different versions. Each version contains the good news, according to a particular author, and I’m sure we can all reel off their names: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

10-15-2017 – “Keeping On”

by

It feels as if the end of our time together is coming very quickly. I am very aware that I will be with you for just four more Sundays, after today. As I read the lectionary readings for this week,I decided to take a break from Matthew and his love ofjudgment, to focus on the kinder, gentler words of Paul, in his letter to the church at Philippi.

08-20-2017 – Make the Circle Wider

by

The events in Charlottesville challenge us to become aware of our exclusionary attitudes, to remember who we are – Christ’s body in the world – and to be transformed by our encounter with the frightening reality of white supremacist hatred into witnesses to God’s love for all God’s people. With this in mind, I would like to share with you a pastoral letter from the Officers and the Council of Conference Ministers of the United Church of Christ.

08-27-2017 – Rocks and Pebbles

by

This past Sunday, the Pastoral Search Committee brought you the exciting news that they have a candidate to recommend to be your new settled pastor. Plans are afoot to meet and greet the candidate, and to hear him preach and lead worship. I hope that as many of you as possible will be here for this important event, ready to welcome the candidate and his wife, to listen, to ask questions and to discern if this is the one God is calling to be your next settled pastor.

09-03-2017 – On Being Transformed

by

In today’s reading, Paul gives guidance to those who were trying to follow the Way of Jesus, in the earliest years of the church. He begins with love: Let love be genuine. Some of his advice is about how to live in close community with others: Love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Live in harmony with one another …

09-10-2017 – How Should I Forgive?

by

When I was in seminary, the minister at my field education church preached a sermon on forgiveness. And in it he said something that really struck me: “Jesus wants us to be like him.” Oh! Yes, of course. How very simple. How impossibly hard. And perhaps the hardest part of being like Jesus is this business of forgiveness.

03-26-2017 – “Now I See”

by

It can be quite interesting to imagine oneself into a biblical story. Choosing a role and placing ourselves into the scene can open up aspects of the story we might not have seen before. So I invite you to hear the story of the blind man and Jesus and to imagine that you are hearing it fresh, as if it just happened.