Sermons

Environmental sustainability is a spiritual issue

Sermon for April 19, 2015 (Third Sunday of Easter)
Rev. Amy Welin:
The collect for the Third Sunday of Easter is well-suited to the Sunday that we read the story of the miracle on the road to Emmaus, when the risen Christ reveals himself in the breaking of bread. In today’s gospel reading, using a passage later in Luke, Jesus also reveals himself in Jerusalem, first by eating a bit of fish and then by breaking open the Scriptures that his followers might understand. The intersection of the Collect and lessons this week is this: we can encounter the Risen Christ in the bread and wine because of the way that Jesus has been revealed in all the Scriptures. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Environmental sustainability is a spiritual issue”
Sermons

Is doubt the enemy of faith?

Sermon for April 12, 2015 (Second Sunday of Easter)
Rev. Amy Welin:
What do you think: Is doubt the enemy of faith? Is doubt a spiritually destructive force that separates us from God? Were you taught that doubting is a personal spiritual failure? (I was.)
 
To have doubts and questions about faith is unsettling, isn’t it? We can wonder if something is wrong with us - are we just faking it? are we foolish? do we need remedial Sunday School? or just to pray harder? In my years as a church leader, I have noticed that people who live with doubts about Jesus and the resurrection can live in a silent desperation, because doubt in the church is treated almost like a leprosy of the soul. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Is doubt the enemy of faith?”
Sermons

Are you looking for Jesus of Nazareth?

Sermon for April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday)
Rev. Amy Welin:
We have known for weeks that spring has been coming, not because the weather has cooperated, but because the peeps and chocolate candy and butterfly toys have arrived in the stores. We have had to trust in the coming of spring, without a lot of observable evidence. Sometimes we realize that the boundary between the dead of winter and the new life of spring is very thin. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Are you looking for Jesus of Nazareth?”