Sermon

Jeremiah 31:31-34
Psalm 51:10-12 1
John 12:20-26

John 8:31
Luke 4:18-19

The answers to this question are quite diverse. Some say that Christians are all those who place that label on themselves. For statistical surveys that is the best way to go. Many people who are not members of any church call themselves Christians, and that has some significance. On the other hand, there are some church members who will, when pressed, assert that they are not Christians. That they reject the label is also of some significance.

I Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14
Psalm 111
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-59

Life is full of special moments – your first day at school, graduation from college, falling in love, your wedding day, the birth of a child, the day that God became more than a word to you. Life is also full of special places – your birth place, your home town, the summer house, the place where a loved one is buried, a monument to a great president.

Pentecost Sunday

Acts 2:1-21
Romans 8:22-27
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Isaiah 65

Last week the woman took her children to a restaurant. Her 6-year-old son asked if he could say grace. As they bowed their heads, he said, “God is good, God is great. Thank you for the food, and I would thank you more if Mom gets us ice cream for dessert. And liberty and justice for all! Amen!"

Along with the laughter from other customers nearby, the mother heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with the country. Kids today don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why, I never.”

Easter Sunday

Cecil B. DeMille, a renowned playwright and producer of epic films such as the Ten Commandments, was asked to write a play about immortality. He went to his cottage in the Maine woods and began to think about the subject. One day he was fishing out in the middle of the lagoon when he noticed that hundreds of water beetles were climbing out of the water, and climbing up the reeds which surrounded his boat.

Advent 3, Year C

Isaiah 12:2-6
Philippians 4:4-9
Luke 7:7-18

Theme: Living joyfully
Location: Disciples United Community Church, Lancaster, PA

Good theology—clear and life-changing thinking about God—has three interconnected components:

Location: Emory University

Christmas 1, Year C

I Samuel 2:18-20, 26
Psalm 148
Colossians 3:12-17
Luke 2: 41-52

Theme: Spiritual growth
Location: Disciples United Community Church, Lancaster, PA

It is good to see so many of you here this morning! Traditionally, the Sundays after Easter and Christmas are considered “low” Sundays in the Christian year, opportunities for pastors and parishioners alike to take a much needed rest after the rigors of Holy Week and the Christmas season.