Sermons by Sherry Deets (Page 45)

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonAugust 12, 2007Read: Genesis 15:1-6; Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 and Luke 12:32-40 One morning a middle-aged woman sat in the office of a psychiatrist because for too long she had been dealing with daily depression. It was the third session for her and she had been struggling to find the source of her problem. Together they had addressed many of her concerns dealing with her relationship with her husband and her parents. There was a lack…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJuly 29, 2007Read: Luke 11:1-13, Genesis 18:20-32 “Lord, teach us to pray”, one of the disciples asked. Have you ever noticed someone who seems to be at peace with themselves and the world? They seem somehow “different”. Jesus must have looked like that when he had finished praying. And when we see someone who has something that we want, we try our best to find out how he or she got it, don’t we? Teach…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJuly 22, 2007Read: Luke 10:38-42 What time is it? And where are you? Those are considered to be two of the most asked questions in our day. What time is it? And where are you? I’m going to come back to those questions in a little bit. The story of Martha and Mary is an often familiar one, one that is written about frequently when it comes to prayer life. I believe it’s used so…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJuly 15, 2007Read: Luke 10:25-37 The Jericho Road. It happened on the Jericho Road. It always happens on the Jericho Road. The Jericho Road is the seventeen mile road that connects Jerusalem to Jericho. That road drops 3600 feet in those seventeen miles. It is a steep, winding, descending, remote road that for centuries has been a place of robberies. It always happens on the Jericho Road. It is the seventeen miles of violence and…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJuly 8, 2007Read: Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 “The Lord appointed 70 others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.” In preparation for today’s message, it struck me that Jesus appointed “70 others”. This was after he had appointed the 12 apostles that remained close to him. He appointed 70 others…but remember that numbers were significant in biblical times. 12 signified the number of…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJune 24, 2007Read: Luke 8:26-39 The Gerasene Demoniac. Stories like this in the Bible tend to make us uncomfortable in our day and age. The idea of demons or evil has been explained away by science and medicine in many cases. But evil is real. In the introduction to his book, the Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis says that the devil is equally pleased by two very different mistakes that people make. The first mistake…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJune 10, 2007Read: 1 Kings 17:17-24 and Luke 7:11-17 As Jesus was journeying on to a town called Nain, he approached the gate of the town, and saw that a man who had died was being carried out. Jesus discovered that this man was his mother’s only son and she was a widow. That information is very important to this story, because you see, widows in first century Judea were women on the margin of…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonJune 3, 2007Read: John 16:12-15 and Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 Last week we celebrated Pentecost and this week we celebrate another feast day, Trinity Sunday. The primary difference between Trinity Sunday and the rest of the year is that on this day we focus on God’s being rather than on God’s doing; on who God is rather than on what God has done. On this day, we turn from the “sacred story” to the sacred itself.…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonMay 27, 2007Read: Genesis 11:1-9, Acts 2:1-21 and John 14:8-17, 25-27 Today we are celebrating Pentecost…the coming of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is a fulfillment of time. God is. God came in the form of a human being – Jesus Christ. Christ died for us, for our salvation and sent the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, to be with us “forever”. That Spirit empowers us to be Christ’s hands and feet and voice in this world.…

By Pat KirknerMay 20, 2007Read: Acts 16:16-34 Paul & Silas traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony meaning under Roman rule, submissive to the will of another, thus a ‘slave’. A woman, a fortune teller, followed them saying Paul & Silas were slaves of the Most High. Why do you think the fortune teller called Paul & Silas slaves? Because it was all she know. Men made money from her fortune telling talents. When all she knows is how to do…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonMay 13, 2007Read: John 5:1-9, Rev. 21:22-22:5, Acts 16:9-16 Water. Life giving water. Today’s first and second lessons (Acts and Revelation) center on imagery of the river and the nations. Water flows through these texts, extending the geography of God’s life-giving river to the world. In Revelation 22 the river of the water of life flows from the throne of God through the center of New Jerusalem, welcoming all nations. In Acts 16 the lift-giving…

By the Very Rev. Sherry CromptonMay 6, 2007Read: John 13:31-35 Love. Today’s readings are mystica…Peter’s vision about food and the Holy Spirit. The psalm that glorifies God’s great creation. John’s vision from the book of Revelation of a new reality. All things are being made new. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life”. And John’s gospel where…