Sermons by Sherry Deets (Page 13)
Sherry Deets is the current Rector of the Episcopal Church of the Trinity in Coatesville, PA.
Alternate Possibilities
All Saints Sunday – November 1, 2020 Matthew 5:1-12 How often, since the Covid-19 pandemic began, have you said, “I can’t wait until life gets back to normal?” Are you tired, are you weary? I admit that I am a bit weary. We’re going through a lot….there is the pandemic, the rioting, the need to say Black Lives Matter because they’re not treated as though they do matter, the political environment and upcoming election…there’s a lot going on. A…
How about a cup of tea to go?
21 Pentecost, Proper 25 – October 25, 2020 Matthew 22:34-46 Today’s gospel should be a familiar one. When asked what commandment in the law is the greatest Jesus says, ““You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The whole law and the prophets depend on these…
Proper Wedding Attire ?
19 Pentecost, Proper 23 – October 11, 2020 Matthew 22:1-14 So, this is a really difficult parable to understand. It’s an odd story about a king offering an extravagant banquet for his son’s wedding. Yet the invited guests do not come. Three times the king sends messengers out to bring them to the wedding feast. Yet they are too distracted, busy, or uninterested, and none come. Finally, when the messengers are instructed to invite anyone and everyone, the banquet…
How is your vineyard?
18 Pentecost, Proper 21 – October 4, 2020 Matthew 21:33-46 This parable begs the question, “whose land is it, anyway?” Culturally, in the first century, the leasing of land to tenant farmers was a common experience. Landowners could expect tenants to turn over a portion of the crop and those who failed to meet the landowner’s standards would be removed from the land, forcefully if necessary. Many in Jesus’ audience would have understood the experience of the farmers all…
More Room in God’s Kingdom
17 Pentecost, Proper 21 Matthew 21:23-32 Jesus told a story about a man with two sons. The father asked the first son to go to work in the vineyard, and the son said that he would ––but he didn’t. The father asked the second son to go to work in the vineyard, and the second son said that he wouldn’t ––but he did. Jesus told this story to religious men ––the best men of his day –– men who prided…
Forgiveness is life
15 Pentecost, Proper 19 – September 13, 2020 Matthew 18:21-35 “How many times do I need to forgive my brother or sister?” That’s the question which prompts the parable of the unmerciful servant that we hear today. This passage follows on last week’s reading, which Jesus concluded by assuring us that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there he is, in our midst. Peter,…..well he doesn’t allow us to linger in that moment. He knows that…
The Messy Middle
14 Pentecost, Proper 18 – September 6, 2020 Matthew 18:15-20 Wherever two or more are gathered….well, it can be really hard to get along. Right? Today’s gospel caused me to say Oh, no!, when I first read it. But then, I realized this is relevant to what we’re going through right now. This exhausting point of our journey through a pandemic, this unsettling time of addressing – hopefully addressing – racial injustice, and all of that intertwined with a…
A Rock?
12 Pentecost, Proper 16 – August 23, 2020 Matthew 16:13-20 Today’s gospel is a bit intimidating. Jesus is calling Peter a “rock” and blessing him with a mighty blessing. I wonder how Peter felt at the time….I would guess he thought to himself….’”what? I’m no rock and I don’t want that power you’re talking about” do you really know me, Jesus?? Matthew tells us that Jesus and the disciples visit Caesarea Philippi, where Jesus, after having asked his companions…
Fear
Fear
Life’s Struggles
9 Pentecost, Proper 13 – August 2, 2020 Genesis 32:22-31 and Matthew 14:13-21 This morning we have one of my favorite stories – Jacob wrestling with an angel. It is close to my heart as I am reminded of the times I have wrestled with God in my own life. And we have the miracle story – the only miracle story to appear in all 4 of our gospels – the fishes and the loaves, the feeding of the…
Flour and yeast
8 Pentecost, Proper 12 Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Our gospel this morning presents us with five short parables about the kingdom of heaven: the mustard seed, the leaven, the hidden treasure, the priceless pearl and the net. Of interest in these parables, are the diverse socioeconomic settings represented there: a sower of seed, a woman baking bread, a fortune seeker, a merchant, a commercial fisherman. They reflect activities easily recognized in the world of the Gospel and also today, each individual…
What kind of soil are you?
6 Pentecost, Proper 10 – July 12, 2020 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 The story line in our gospel today seems simple enough. A sower goes out to sow, and casts seed extravagantly, abundantly, so that they land in four kinds of places, with four different results. The seed that lands on the hard path is eaten up by birds. The seed that lands in rocky soil grows up only to wither. The seed that lands among thorns grows up, but…