Tag: United Church of Christ

What’s next?

What’s next? (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 1:1-9
April 27, 2014

But what comes next?

It was an exhilarating, exhausting, excruciating, and euphoric week.  Not this week, but the preceding week, the week that began on Palm Sunday and ended on Easter Sunday.  If you paid close attention, if you followed Jesus every step of the way, if you opened your eyes and your ears to the horrors of what was done to him and the wonders of what was done by him, you were surely left limp, physically spent, emotionally drained. … Continue reading ...

And …

And … (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 1:17-23
May 4, 2014

This is Christ’s gracious offer, not continuation, but transformation.

What’s the difference?

This is Christ’s gracious offer, not resuscitation, but resurrection.

What’s the difference?

What would it mean for you?  To be transformed?  To be resurrected?  Not merely extending or stretching out your life as it is, but transforming your life, changing it, setting it in a new direction, filling it with new vitality, giving you a new life, giving you eternal life? … Continue reading ...

Priests

Priests (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 2:4-10
May 18, 2014

“Dear Amy …”

It’s a newspaper column, like “Dear Abby,” only it’s “Dear Amy.”  Dick Grimm shared it with me this week, and now I am sharing it with you.

Dear Amy,

Every fall, my sister, cousins and a cousin’s sister-in-law have a weekend shopping excursion in our home city. … Continue reading ...

Comma

Comma (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
1 Peter 3:13-22
May 25, 2014

Do you know any of these people?

She can’t keep a job.  She doesn’t have a job now.  She always starts out with good intentions, but then distractions or boredom or weak willpower or just plain laziness get in the way.  She can’t seem to follow through, can’t seem to be able to see the big picture, won’t buckle down, won’t grow up. … Continue reading ...

Leaving jealousy behind

Leaving jealousy behind (Click on the sermon title for a .pdf copy)
Romans 13:8-14
September 7, 2014

In seventeen days, on September 24, our church will celebrate its 158th anniversary.  Our congregation has a long history in Waterloo, virtually as long as the history of the town itself.  It is your church, it is our church, but it is a church we have inherited, with a long-established tradition of worship and ministry and mission in Waterloo and the Cedar Valley.… Continue reading ...