Sermons

Sermon October 27, 2019 Love without Masks Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 John 4:7-12 There James Baldwin is, in Senegal, in 1962, and he is supposedly reporting on assignment by the New Yorker for a piece on Africa. And yet, all he can think of is the moral reckoning of race his country is facing. So, Continue reading …

Sermon October 20, 2019 The Responsibility of Love Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 John 3: 11-18 James Baldwin is a prophet for our troubled times. Baldwin was a black, gay, renowned novelist and essayist, the writer of such classics as Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, The Fire Next Time, and Continue reading …

Sermon October 14, 2019 Justice-Filled Joy Reverend Mark Longhurst 2 Samuel 6:12-19 Joy and justice, on the surface, do not seem to go together. In fact, sometimes, if we’re honest, we associate social justice with joylessness. We met someone was an activist for this or that, and they didn’t seem, well, happy. Or maybe we Continue reading …

Sermon October 6, 2019 A Covenant with all Creatures Reverend Mark Longhurst Genesis 6:18-22 God has created the earth, and the heavens, and the fish, and the creeping animals, and the slithering animals, and the flying birds. God has separated the water from the land, light from darkness. God has populated the water, and the Continue reading …

Sermon September 29, 2019 David’s Call to Arms, Abigail and Bayard Rustin’s Nonviolence Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 Samuel 25: 2-14, 18-26 Bayard Rustin is central to the power and efficacy of the civil rights movement. And yet even today, he’s a figure who remains unknown by many who care about peace and justice. He is Continue reading …

Sermon September 22, 2019: David and Harriet Tubman on the Run Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 Samuel 23: 7-15, 19-28 Wednesday was the day of Harriet Tubman’s self-liberation!! 170th anniversary   It’s the year 1853, give or take a year or two, and Harriet Tubman is leading escaped slaves from Maryland up the Northeastern liberty line, Continue reading …

Sermon September 15, 2019: Greta, David and Goliath Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 Samuel 17: 2-11, 22, 45,48-49 It started with the refusal to go to school. If, as the scientists say, we face catastrophic climate change, why do we carry out our business as usual? Why do we not act as if we are, in Continue reading …

Sermon September 8, 2019: A Revolution of the Heart Reverend Mark Longhurst 1 Samuel 16: 13-16 God sees the heart. David’s dad Jesse parades his sons before the prophet Samuel, showcasing the strongest and brightest. These are the ones with the best resumes for king, the ones with the equivalent of Williams College degrees. It’s Continue reading …

Sermon August 25, 2019: A Renewing Reverend Shannan Vance-Ocampo Ezekiel 47: 1-12 & Luke 6: 17-26 I never would have imagined when we began this summer that it would turn out to be such a challenging one from an environmental and social point of view. I am grateful that we have had the opportunity to Continue reading …

Sermon August 11, 2019: The Tree of Life Reverend Shannan Vance-Ocampo Genesis 2: 8-9, Proverbs 3: 13-20 & Revelation 22: 1-5 There is a tree that has stood for many years outside one of the two homes my husband’s parents built early in their marriage. My father-in-law planted the tree when the house was completed, Continue reading …