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Sermon May 12, 2019: Listening to the True Voices Reverend Mark Longhurst John 10:22-30 A shepherd, in the Bible, takes care of God’s people. Our lectionary Scripture today, found in John chapter 10, is embedded in a long discourse about sheep, and shepherds, and thieves and robbers that try to steal sheep, and the broader Continue reading …
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Sermon May 5, 2019: Recognizing Jesus Reverend Mark Longhurst John 21:1-14 Why is it so hard to recognize Jesus? There he stands on the beach, after the disciples’ unsuccessful fishing outing. They are still in their boat after a long night, and Jesus calls out to them. Except they don’t know it is Jesus. A Continue reading …
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Sermon April 21, 2019: All Things Reconciled Reverend Mark Longhurst Luke 24:1-12, Colossians 1:15, 18-20 We grieved this week as Notre Dame Cathedral burned. Many of our hearts broke while we relived memories from that sacred place: memories of visiting as a young child, or with our young child, or while backpacking Europe with a Continue reading …
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Sermon April 14, 2019: All Creation Groans Reverend Mark Longhurst Luke 23:26-46, Romans 8:19-23 The crowds’ shouts of Hosanna have long since faded away. We sang about Jesus entering Jerusalem, a nonviolent king who reigns with humble love, who rides a donkey instead of a warhorse. We offered glory, laud, and honor. We even prayed Continue reading …
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Sermon April 7, 2019: Love and Death Reverend Mark Longhurst Isaiah 43:16-21, John 12:1-8 Mary’s anointing Jesus’s feet with oil is slightly embarrassing. The sheer emotion of the scene is overpowering. There’s the oil, the hair, the feet, the raw vulnerability. Jesus is eating dinner in Bethany, close to Jerusalem, at his dear friends Mary, Continue reading …
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Sermon March 31, 2019: Promise Fulfilled Reverend Mark Longhurst Joshua 5:9-12, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 The Israelites –after forty years of wilderness wandering—have entered the promised land. They made it. They’re here. The original wanderers, Moses and they others, they do not step into this land flowing with milk and honey. Forty years is a long Continue reading …
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Sermon March 24, 2019: A Matter of Life Reverend Mark Longhurst Isaiah 55:1-9, Luke 13:1-9 It starts with the invitation to the feast. Lent is primarily about fasting, it’s true, and yet even the reason we fast is because we know there’s a feast. The feast is for everyone, it’s for rich, poor, queer, straight, Continue reading …
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Sermon March 17, 2019: The God Who Risks Loving Reverend Mark Longhurst Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Luke 13:31-35 We enter into the Second Sunday of Lent, a period of introspection in which we journey with Jesus to the cross, through the mystery of death, and into a new world of resurrection. Lent is like a soul-cleanse. Continue reading …
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Sermon March 3, 2019: Retrieving Angels Sixth in a Worship Series on Science, the Bible, and Jesus Christ Today Reverend Mark Longhurst Jubilees 2:2 and Revelation 2:1-5, 7 The universe is strange. Here are a few facts from an article I stumbled across: If you unraveled all of the DNA in your body, it would Continue reading …
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Sermon February 24, 2019: Wisdom’s Way Fifth in a Worship Series on Science, the Bible, and Jesus Christ Today Reverend Mark Longhurst Proverbs 8:22-31 What is wisdom? Where can it be found? Would we know wisdom if we heard it, if we saw it? We know foolishness when we see it. Most of us, at Continue reading …