Sermons from 2011 (Page 4)

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton March 20, 2011 Read: John 3:1-17 “No one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Nicodemus has seen something in Jesus that has intrigued him, but from the conversation that follows, we will see that Nicodemus has witnessed just enough to make him curious, perhaps, but not enough for him to understand… at least not fully. That happens sometimes. John Claypool told a story a number of years ago.…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton 1 Lent – March 13, 2011Read: Genesis 2:1517, 3:1-7 and Matthew 4:1-11 And so we have begun the season of Lent and our first Sunday in Lent begins with Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Jesus was tempted three times by the devil . Taken together, the three rejected temptations not only demonstrate that Jesus is righteous according to the law but also prove his identity as God’s divine and beloved son. Let’s take a closer…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton The Transfiguration – March 6, 2011 Read: Matthew 17:1-9 Once upon a time, there was a bunny rabbit by the name of Mr. Hopewell. Mr. Hopewell had the unfortunate experience of being born in Minnesota. That is, it was very cold, cold, cold and very white, white, white during wintertime. Mr. Hopewell, this bunny rabbit, had never seen anything but the white of snow. When this bunny rabbit talked to other bunny rabbits, the other…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton February 27, 2011Read: Isaiah 49:8-16a & Matthew 6:24-34 Someone once wrote a simple three word poem about how long anxieties have plagued the human race. And he wrote: “Adam had ’em.”The author was rightly suggesting that worry has been present in the world since the beginning of human life. And far from abating, the reasons for worry seem to multiply. We do not all worry about the same things, nor to the same extent, but…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton February 20, 2011 Read: Matthew 5:38-48 So here we are again with a tough gospel lesson from Jesus. Loving our enemies and being perfect. Turning the other cheek, going the second mile. How is it possible to do this, to love our enemies? What is Jesus saying? Is he saying we are supposed to be passive in the face of injustice? Jesus wasn’t when he walked this earth, so let’s try to put what he…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton February 13, 2011 Read: Matthew 5:21-37 So… how many of us are uncomfortable after that gospel reading? I know I was the first time through. I would say that every one of us can see ourselves somewhere in this piece of scripture from Matthew, and we could work through each one these points this morning, but that is really not what Jesus was getting at with his statements. These words of Jesus’ are a continuation…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton January 30, 2011 Read: Matthew 5:1-12 In the midst of this snowy winter, I want to talk about birds. Specifically a bird called a nuthatch. A nuthatch is a small bird that is about as long as the spoon you use to eat your cereal (5 to 6 inches long). There are different types of nuthatches, but they all have one interesting thing in common. Instead of climbing up the trunk of a tree, like…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton January 23, 2011 Read: Matthew 4:12-23 There was an episode of Mutual of Omaha’s “Wild Kingdom” that was about the elephant seals of Argentina. The show focused on a mother and her seal pup, who had just been born. Soon after birthing her baby, the mother, now famished, abandoned the pup on the shore so she could go feed in the rich waters off the coast. After feeding, she returned to a different part of…

By The Rev. Sherry Crompton January 16, 2011Read: John 1:29-42 I received one of those email forwards, you know those stories that get passed around on the internet, that was entitled, the Law of the Garbage Truck and it goes like this: One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My…