December 1, 2024 Sermon

“Hello Courage” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-NagerText: Daniel 6:6-23 I know it’s a long scripture story and not quite the sentimental Christmas narrative one might expect to hear on December 1st, but ….believe me the Lion’s Den has a lot to say to us!...

November 24, 2024 Sermon

“Revealed by Fire: Why the Institutional Church (Still) Matters, And How It Might Help” Rev. Dr. Steve Jungkeit Texts: Matthew 16: 13-18; I Corinthians 3: 10-13 It is true there is not enough beauty in the world. It is also true that I am not competent to...

November 10, 2024 Sermon

“Down By the Riverside, from Generation to Generation” Rev. Dr. Steve Jungkeit and Rev. Gregg Carlson Texts: Exodus 2: 1-4; Luke 1: 49-50 Let me begin by saying that I’m honored to be sharing the pulpit this morning with Rev. Gregg Carlson.  As you’ve now...

November 3, 2024 Sermon

“Reflections on the Run and the Sharing of Dignity over Quiche and Coffee” The Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Texts: Ezekiel 36:26, Mark 8:1-10  I don’t know how many of you subscribe to Snapchat but this might well be described as a Snapchat sermon....

October 27, 2024 Sermon

“The Specters that Haunt Us (and the Spirits that Heal)” The Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Matthew 14: 22-27, Hebrews 11 and 12 (selected passages) A specter is haunting the United States.  Or perhaps, specters, along with ghouls, goblins, skeletons,...

October 20, 2024 Sermon

“Have Done With Lesser Things” The Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Genesis 35: 1-4 Our Scripture lesson this week picks up immediately after the story we considered a week ago.  If Genesis 34 chronicles the terrible destruction unleashed by two of Jacob’s...

October 13, 2024 Sermon

“Cycles of Violence, Seeds of Regeneration” The Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Genesis 34: (Selected Verses)                                                              “Cycles of Violence, Seeds of Regeneration”               In 1984,...

October 6, 2024 Sermon

“C’mon the Table is Ready” The Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Texts: Isaiah 11 :1-4, 6, 7-9, Jeremiah 8:11, John 14:27, Romans 12:18               October 6, 2024 On Wednesday of this past week, I found the world intruding on my peaceable kin-dom in...

September 29, 2024 Sermon

“For Where Your Heart Is…” The Rev. Dr. Steve Jungkeit Texts: Jeremiah 29: 11; Matthew 6: 19-21; Philippians 2: 12 For Where Your Heart Is…              Today I’d like to speak in the most personal terms about what this community means to me.  We’re...

September 22, 2024 Sermon

“Keeping the Dance Alive” The Rev. Dr. Steve JungkeitTexts: Psalm 30: 1-12; Ezekiel 37: 1-6 ‘Keeping the Dance Alive” Back in 1991, in the early years of our partnership with the Lakota community at Green Grass, David Good preached a sermon entitled “It’s...

September 15, 2024 Sermon

“Numbering Our Days: On Distraction, Boredom, and Creating an Inner Life” Dr. Steve Jungkeit Texts: Psalm 90 (selected verses); Romans 12: 2 Here’s something that happened this summer, something so ordinary and so universal that it scarcely merits...

September 8, 2024 Sermon

“Religion is for Lovers” Rev. Dr. Steve Jungkeit Texts: Matthew 5: 5-16; Hebrews 11: 1; 2 Corinthians 5: 7  To the welcome that you’ve already received this morning from Carleen and from Laura, let me add my own.  It’s good to see so many of our families,...

August 18th, 2024 Sermon

“Lessons Learned During a Period of Spiritual Dryness” Rev. Rebecca Crosby Texts: Psalm 77:1-3, Matthew 7:7-11, Mark 14:32-36 Lessons Learned During a Period of Spiritual Dryness In addition to our work granting scholarships and providing education in...

August 11, 2024 Sermon

“If There When Grace Dances: Notes on Festivities and Play” Rev. Steve JungkeitThe First Congregational Church of Old LymeTexts: Psalm 137: 2-4, I Corinthians 1: 25 Most summers over the past decade, our family has found a way to visit New Orleans, where I...

August 4, 2024 Sermon

“In Difficult Times You Should Always Carry Something Beautiful in Your Mind”    (Pascal) Rev. Carleen R. GerberThe First Congregational Church Of Old Lyme, Ct.Text: Ezekiel 47:7-9 & 12, Proverbs 29:18(a) (King James Bible translation), Ephesians 1:16-19(a),...