Through the Sea

Dry land or no dry land, the people of Israel take a leap of faith and step into the waters.

Larry Hayward preaches on Exodus 14:19-31.

Summed Up

What is it about God—the God who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Christ in whose name we gather, who is the Spirit whose presence we invoke—that compels us to one simple and positive four-letter word?

Larry R. Hayward preaches on Romans 13:8-10.

The Burning Bush

Perhaps God will remain within the burning bush until he finds someone willing to join him in the effort of setting his people free.

Larry R. Hayward preaches today on Exodus 3:1-15.

Q&A

Jesus asks his disciples two questions of identity: "Who do people say that I am?" and "Who do YOU say that I am?" Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy explores how the answers reveal both our typical human capacity of defining people through what we already know, and our ability to move beyond that through experience and revelation.

The Scripture lesson is Matthew 16:13-20.

The Pit and the Rope

Larry Hayward continues his summer sermon series, "In the Beginning". Today's scripture is Genesis 37:12-28.

Ultimate Fighting Discipleship

Something about being human means being drawn to a good fight. Patrick Hunnicutt continues the story of Jacob in Genesis 32:22-31.

Rachel and Leah

A Ladder Set Upon the Earth

Whether it is daylight or darkness; whether you are home, in the process of leaving home, or returning home; whether you are estranged from your family or as close as you have ever been with them: may you know that the Lord is with you, and may the Lord take you – Jacob-like – to your true home. And when you arrive, may you recognize it with the joy and wonder that came to Jacob.

Larry Hayward continues the series “In the Beginning” with Genesis 28:10-19.

Jacob and Esau

Among the most pronounced divisions which unfold in Genesis is that between brother and brother. In the story of Jacob and Esau, can we find hope for reconciliation?

Larry Hayward preaches on Genesis 25:19-28.

Isaac and Rebekah

From the time Isaac is born to Abraham and Sarah until the time nearly forty years later he marries Rebekah, we see Isaac experience nothing but trauma and loss. But as the story of Isaac continues in Genesis, we get to see Isaac experience a moment of healing as well.

Larry Hayward preaches on Genesis 24:62-67.

Leaders and People in a Democracy

As we share in our nation’s 241st year of independence, the dynamics in this text concerning the relationship between the people of Israel and their leader Moses can, I believe, add a bit of wisdom to the dynamics of what it means in our time to be the people called “The United States of America.” I offer these comments neither as law, prescription, nor even opinion, but as perhaps a bit of wisdom gleaned from a particular moment in the history of the people of God who were not quite as far along in their formation as a people as we are in our nation today, but a people with whom we may have more in common than at first we think.

Larry Hayward preaches on Numbers 11:24-30.

Love Sent

There are moments when we are called into spaces and places—or when places and spaces appear around us suddenly—where we feel helpless and overwhelmed by the need at hand.

Into this world, we are called to see, to hear, to experience what is around us. And then we are called to speak good news, and even to heal.

Rev. Casey FitzGerald preaches today on Matthew 9:35—10:23.

The Two Directions of Creation

This summer, Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches a sermon series on the Genesis selections of the Lectionary. The series begins with Genesis 1:26–31. In this first Creation story we encounter both a vertical relationship, between God and humanity, and a horizontal relationship--a communal relationship--within God's own person and with each other.

Ready to Activate

The church is a gathering of difference: different stories, different backgrounds, different calling, different life experiences, different gifts. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to a divided church, one where certain gifts are being valued over others. Paul writes to remind them who they are, that the church is best when it is a motley crew of faithful folks seeking to bring humanity in reach of something higher.

On the Day of Pentecost, Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on 1 Corinthians 12:3b–13.

The Last Memory

As the disciples pick up the mantle of mission in Acts, they face bitterness, resistance, persecution. Some are imprisoned. Some are shipwrecked. Some are assailed by angry mobs.

Yet the last memory they have of Christ is him blessing them: thus they are able to carry on, even when carrying on is the last thing they have the confidence to do.

Larry Hayward preaches on the Ascension of the Lord from Luke 24:44-53.

Two Sermons in One

If our task as the church is to participate in the inbreaking of God’s kingdom on earth, perhaps we need not aim for some heroic and decisive departure from everything we have known in order to follow Jesus. Perhaps we just to situate ourselves at the beginning of the story, in the crowd that is eager to listen.

Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Luke 5:1-11.

Orating or Bestriding

In a context in which disciples are confused and fearful of Jesus’s leaving – “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” – Christ is saying, with calm reassurance, “You have seen the Father because you have seen me. I am the way, the truth, and the life.”

Jesus is expressing exalted reassurance, not a call to conversion or theological precision. How does the beauty and power of John’s language about Christ actually lift our souls into his presence and lead us to belief?

Larry Hayward preaches today on John 14:1-14.

I Want to Preach Resurrection, Too

Those of us who are well-acquainted with the story of the resurrection still desire to encounter it anew. How can we experience the resurrection as something that is vivid and real to the heartbeat of this life, not just some promise of the life that is to come or some story from many years ago?

Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 24:13–35.

Before the Great Commission

The only real way we can respond to the resurrection of Christ is to fall down and worship. For people of faith, worship is crucial in accepting and preparing for a great responsibility, for our Great Commission.

Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday from Matthew 28:1–10, 16–20.

The Poet Thinks About the Donkey

Today is traditionally known as Palm Sunday, the day in which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was greeted by crowds waving palm branches and cheering, a day that leads to Jesus’ death but ultimately to his resurrection.

It is the resurrection of Christ that makes his teaching beyond that of a great teacher, his death beyond that of a martyr, his life beyond that of other great lives, both those lived to their fullness of days and those cut short by human conflict and violence. And it all begins with a procession into Jerusalem on a donkey, to the waving of branches and shouts of “Hosanna!”

Dr. Larry Hayward preaches today on Matthew 21:1-11, using Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Poet Thinks About the Donkey.” This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.

If You Had Been Here

In today's story, Jesus finds his friends in difficult places, filled with fear and grief. In times of our own fear and grief, we often ask the same thing they did: “Why?” Jesus says, “Come, and see.”

Casey FitzGerald preaches on John 11:1-54.