Sermons by Sherry Deets (Page 43)

March 16, 2008 (Palm Sunday)Read: Matthew 26:14- 27:66 or Matthew 27:11-54 [One of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver. And from that moment he began to look for an opportunity to betray him. On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Where do you want us to make the…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonMarch 9, 2008 Read: Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11:1-45 Close your eyes and look around you. You are dropped into the middle of a deep valley full of bones. The bones are dry..very dry..bleached white from the hot sun. There are a lot of bones. Dry bones everywhere. You feel a sense of hopelessness. Now you are at the graveside of someone you dearly love. He died. He has been dead now four days and…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonMarch 2, 2008 Read: 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and John 9:1-41 There’s something here about outside appearances. Samuel would choose a new king based on different ideas about what makes a good king, what makes a good leader, than God would choose. And then, of course, in our story about the blind man…it becomes comical how all those people around him cannot see. They cannot see this blind man in his new role, in his new…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonFebruary 24, 2008John 4:5-42 Wow! John’s gospel story is rich, it’s loaded with meaning….deep, spiritual meaning. I can’t begin to touch everything that’s happening in this story today, but I’ll share what seems important for us now, here, today. First of all, it is a surprising story….a remarkable story….because the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman shouldn’t have happened. The barriers to the conversation are great. Jesus is a Jew and the woman is…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonFebruary 10, 2008Read: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11 This morning we hear two very familiar stories…Adam and Eve with the serpent, eating the forbidden fruit. And Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. Temptation is a prominent theme. But what about temptation? What about Satan? What about the serpent? It seems that the temptations we face are really the same temptation, to take charge..to take control and not let God be God. Or…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonFebruary 6, 2008 (Ash Wednesday)Read: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Tonight we are reminded that we are all sinners…that we are all in need of forgiveness. We are also reminded that we are God’s property. God is the ultimate forgiver. God is the healer who begins to change us from the inside when the sick soul cries out for help. God is the one who creates a clean heart. The Gospel doesn’t guarantee our physical well-being, or…

By The Very Rev. Sherry CromptonFebruary 3, 2008 Transfiguration (Last Epiphany)Read: Matthew 17:1-9 The Transfiguration. Jesus on the mountaintop transformed, an awe-inspiring vision of the presence of God for Peter, James and John. Unmistakable. And I wonder, what can I say about such an experience. The Bible is filled with these encounters, these epiphanies. There is Moses and the burning bush, Jacob and the ladder full of angels, Job and the voice out of the whirlwind. “They are all cracked…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJanuary 27, 2008Read: Matthew 4:12-23 Today we heard twice, from Isaiah and Matthew… “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light..” Light in the midst of darkness is a familiar metaphor used throughout the scriptures. It is comforting because it implies hope. An opportunity for something different, something better; an opportunity for new life. And so perhaps that is why, when Jesus says to the two sets of brothers “Follow me, and…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJanuary 13, 2008Read: Matthew 3:13-17 Today we remember and celebrate Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. It seems a little strange to jump from Jesus as a baby, the Christmas story, to Jesus being Baptized as a man. In Matthew’s gospel, though, the baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of his ministry to the world. Like being born, it is a new beginning. It also seems strange that Jesus would actually…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJanuary 6, 2008 (Epiphany)Read: Matthew 2:1-12 Today is Epiphany and marks the end of our church season of Christmas – the twelve days of Christmas. You know that Epiphany means “manifestation”, “to show”, “to reveal” and is the story of how Christ became known to all people. I just read the story about a diamond that was found in Murphreesboro, Arkansas recently. Apparently the Crater of Diamonds State Park is the only place in the…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonDecember 30, 2007 (Christmas Eve)Read: Why The Bells Chimed by Raymond MacDonald Alden(This story is found all over the Internet and apparently comes originally from Alden’s Why the Chimes Rang and Other Stories, (The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc.)) Christmas Day is past, but it is still the season of Christmas and today I want to share a wonderful Christmas tale written by Raymond MacDonald Alden many years ago. It is a story that is delightful and…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonDecember 24, 2007 (Christmas Eve)Read: Luke 1:1-20 Heidi Neumark tells of her ride down Bright Angel Trail in the Grand Canyon. Before my 11-year-old son Hans and I could begin a trip down the Grand Canyon on mule back, I had to sign documents indicating that I understood that the National Parks Service did not guarantee the safety of any participant and was not responsible for any injury, major or minor, brain damage or death,…