Sermons from May 2015

Trinity Sunday – May 31, 2015 John 3:1-17 And so, on the church seasonal calendar, today is called Trinity Sunday. And we are Trinity Church. The Trinity – God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The three-in-one. The Triune God. So, let’s think about the number three. Numbers were very important in Jesus’ day and so it makes one wonder why and how God is represented in the number 3.  And fundamentally, any conception and presentation of the Trinity will address…

Pentecost – May 24, 2015 Acts 2:1-21 Violent wind, fire….if we didn’t know it before, we surely know it now, as the second chapter of Acts unfolds: this is no tame God who comes to us, no safe and predictable deity. This is the God whose loving sometimes takes the form of scorching. Before he left, Jesus told his friends he would send them the Advocate, the Comforter. Now we see this Comforter coming as wind, as flame, reminding us…

6 Easter – May 10, 2015 John 15:9-17 Last Sunday we heard John speaking about abiding.  Jesus saying, “Abide in me as I abide in you”.  Jesus’ words continue this Sunday with  love and joy – “Remain in my love” and “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete”. Recall that Jesus says these words just before his crucifixion; just before he goes to the cross.  So, joy appears…

5 Easter – May 3, 2015 John 15:1-8 So, in keeping with the imagery of the gospel reading that we just heard, have you felt pruned by the news lately?  The earthquake in Nepal, the events in Baltimore?  Or maybe not just pruned, but cut down?  Cut down by life’s tragedies great or small, cut down by disappointment or despair, cut down by illness or job loss or other circumstances beyond our control and left to wither and die. It’s…