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Reverend Doctor James Lumsden June 28, 2020 Romans 5: 3-4/8-11 and Matthew 11: 25-30 Grace and peace to you all this morning. St. Paul used to open his letters to the early churches of the Jesus Movement with these words – and I love them. For in addition to evoking a hope born of God’s Continue reading …
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Sermon June 21, 2020 Black Lives Matter and the Coming Kingdom Rachel Payne Matthew 4:12-17 Good morning, church. When I was planning this sermon, I wanted it to be a real barn-burner. I wanted it to be fiery, unyielding — and even apocalyptic. I wanted to say it all: To name and denounce all the Continue reading …
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Reverend Tony Coleman June 7, 2020 Trinity Sunday Who Is Your Lord? 2 Corinthians 13:11-13 Good morning again, friends. It is a pleasure to be with you, albeit virtually but nevertheless together. Thank you so much for inviting me back into the virtual pulpit, and I thank you more for joining us this morning. Continue reading …
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Reverend Tony Coleman June 14, 2020 Surviving Suffering and Christian Character Romans 5:1-8 Good morning again, friends. It’s an honor to be with you for yet another Sunday, particularly now as our country continues to reckon with enormous and complicated questions—around race, around justice, around history—all questions that require not just sharp political or sociological Continue reading …
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Sermon May 3, 2020 Shepherding through the Unknown Reverend Valerie Bailey Fischer John 10:1–10 Good morning, I am delighted to join you in reflecting on today’s text about the Good Shepherd. I have been thinking a lot about shepherds this year, especially since this was the theme for this past Lessons and Carols. Since then, Continue reading …
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Sermon April 26, 2020 Reflections on Faith and Fear Reverend Doctor Richard Floyd Psalm 27 Happy Easter! The good news on this Third Sunday of Easter is that Christ is still risen. Hallelujah! But it’s a different Easter season this year, isn’t it? When I first came to Pittsfield to be the pastor of the Continue reading …
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Sermon April 19, 2020 Henry Got High on Mount Greylock Lauren R. Stevens Psalm 24 (Berkshire Natural History Conference, Clark Art Institute, November16, 2019) At the end of August 1839, recent Harvard graduate Henry David Thoreau and his older brother, John, set out in a rowboat they had constructed on a trip down the Concord Continue reading …
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April 12, 2020 Easter Sunday Arise to New Life: Easter for Earth and for all Reverend Doctor Margaret Bullitt-Jonas Matthew 28: 1-10 What a blessing to be with you! I’ve been looking forward to seeing your faces and joining in worship with you on this Easter morning. I was invited to preach because I’m your Continue reading …
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My own shaping as an observer of what Jesus has done, my experience as one who believes in him, has had imprints from the United Church of Christ from early in my life. I was baptized in one Congregational church, and attended worship at another during elementary school (a church my mother served as Choir Continue reading …
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Reverend Tony Coleman Matthew 21: 1-11 Palm Sunday Sunday, April 5th Good morning, friends. I first want to thank each of you for being here this morning, for embarking on this new journey together as we continue to live into these new ways of worshiping God in the age of the coronavirus. And, I also Continue reading …