SERMON PODCASTS
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Veja Du and the Evil of Two Lessers
In his parables, Jesus takes ordinary things--like lost coins, dinner parties, and misbehaving children--and he uses them in stories to help his listeners perceive their familiar reality in a whole new way. Parables were Christ's way of helping people meet God, and t see their life with God "again, for the first time." Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Mark 4:26-34.
Ordinary People: Lot's Wife
In traditional preaching and teaching across the centuries, the unnamed wife of Lot serves as an example of how not to be if we seek to be faithful and committed followers of Jesus Christ. But a close reading of this story at least opens the door for a more charitable and humane interpretation of Lot’s wife. Larry Hayward preaches from Genesis 19:12-15, 24-26. Summer Sermon Series: Ordinary People. It is in the loves and hates, the hopes and fears, the strides and stumbles of ordinary people that God is both known and active in the world and which is narrated in Scripture. This summer’s series will highlight four men and four women from the Bible and hold them before our eyes that we may observe what they experienced, what moved them, and how God may have been present to them.
Precious and Precise
The knowledge of who God is can be unbearable--it is a lot to grasp the divine and the awesomeness of God's attributes. We are invited today to be both challenged and comforted by the wonder of God. Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Confirmation Sunday. The Scripture lesson is selections from Psalm 139.
In the Year that King Uzziah Died
A story that has circulated among preachers for years concerns a small, African-American Church in Michigan on that Sunday after the Kennedy assassination, a Sunday in which all across the land people poured out of their homes into houses of worship. In this particular church, the minister stepped to the pulpit, pulled the chain which turned on the light by which he could read, opened his Bible, and read words from Isaiah that open our scripture today: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord.” The minister then proceeded to ask his grieving, gathered congregation: In the year that we have lost our King, In the year that we have lost our dashing young president, Can we – can we – can we see the Lord? Larry Hayward preaches on Isaiah 6:1-8.
Waiting to Exhale
On this Pentecost morning, we are reminded in Romans that part of the call in our souls, our bodies, our lives, is to be people who imagine. Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Romans 8:22-27.
Ascension?
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward explores the meaning and importance of Ascension, an important part of the life and destiny of Christ, often lost on mainline Protestants like us. The scripture today is Luke 24:44-53
What We Know
Rev Dr. Larry R. Hayward focuses on John 15:15 and makes the claim that we know enough to “bear fruit…that lasts.” The scripture today is John 15:9-17.
The Unpleasant Experience of Being Pruned
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward focuses on what it may mean for us to be “pruned” and how that can lead to “bearing more fruit.”The scripture today is John 15:1-8.
Youth Sunday
The Westminster Youth speak on the "Good Shepard." The scripture today is John 10:11-19
Disbelieving for Joy
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward covers several elements in this story: unrecognized presence, “disbelieving for joy,” scripture, the charge to be witnesses. What does it mean to hear and assert news so terrific we “disbelieve for joy”? The scripture today is Psalm 41.
The Breath of New Life
“…he breathed on him and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Patrick A. Hunnicutt preaches on John 20: 19-31.
The First to Announce
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward focuses on seeking to relate “the young man at the tomb” to the “young man who fled.” It raises the question, “how do we write ourselves into the Easter story?” The scripture today is Mark 16:1-8.
The Last One to Flee
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward speaks about "The Last One to Flee". The scripture is Mark 14:52.
Calm
Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward will focus on calm, particularly how that, in Alter’s words, may lie “outside cultic or public function.” The scripture today is Psalm 131.
Alliance and Defiance
Rev. Whitney K. Fauntleroy speaks about "Alliance and Defiance." The scripture today is Psalm 2:1-4
Psalm 23
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the Lenten sermon series in conjunction with Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms". The Scripture today is Psalm 23.
Not We Ourselves
Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward continues the Lenten series "The Chichester Psalms". The Scripture is Psalm 100:3-5. Today he preaches "Not We Ourselves".
The Mantle
Over the centuries, we humans have experienced the decidedly mixed character of the world as we know it. In response, we began to yearn, to hope, to pray for, to believe in, something more. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on 2 Kings 2:1-4.
When the Fever Left
*Due to technical difficulties, this sermon was not recorded. Download the PDF to read it!* Whenever we hear a Biblical story about healing, we likely react in one of several ways: Our eyes may immediately be drawn to our own experience; we may think of people who have experienced some kind of healing; we may wonder about – and even be angry over – those near to use who have not been healed. When I chose to preach on this passage today, what attracted me was one simple sentence at the outset of the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law: Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 1:29-39.
The Seasons of a Congregation
While changes in any congregation are necessary, inevitable, and best greeted with welcome, because a significant part the church’s role is to serve as sanctuary from the pressures of society, an island of stability in a sea of change, changes in the church can be particularly challenging for those of us for whom our church home – Westminster – is dear as refuge and relief. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches today. The Scripture lesson is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.
The Absurdity of Grace
In a prophetic tale with an overabundance of the absurd, how do we stay focused on the sometimes startling, sometimes challenging, always absurd grace of God? Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on Jonah 3:1-5, 10.
Getting to Know You
“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael is stuck: stuck in himself, stuck in his own ignorance, stuck in his own constricted view of reality. But when he is told to “come and see,” his willingness to go leads him to Jesus. And Christ’s seeing, and Christ’s knowing, change everything for Nathanael. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on John 1:43-51.
Presented in the Temple
Whatever children and youth experience from hearing, seeing, interacting with adults – in the kitchen, in the hallways, at the water fountain, in the classroom, in the sanctuary, in the choir loft – whatever they experience from us shapes their faith, for good or for ill. We are all Simeons and Annas. Rev. Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches from Luke 2:21-40.
The Beginning of the Good News
Matthew, Luke, and John, each writing thirty to sixty years after the death of Christ, have introduced us to Jesus with words carefully chosen and beautifully written. In contrast, Mark’s words are informative. They are important. But they are not particularly poetic or beautiful. Instead, Mark calls us to get to work, “immediately.” The kingdom of God is near. The business of life is at hand. It is time to repent, turn our attention to the kingdom Christ brings, commit ourselves to it, get to work on its behalf. Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 1:1-14.
Christmas Eve Homily 2017
though the stories that Christian churches across the world recite, sing, and tell this night are about a particular birth of a particular person in the midst of a particular people at a particular time and place in history – namely, Jesus Christ, born as a free, Jewish male, in first century Palestine – the significance of his birth transcends the time and place and gender and race and legal standing and national heritage in which he was born. The peace Christ brings transcends these all.
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