by Robert McCracken | Sermons
Psalm 104 The Bright Blessed Day, the Dark Sacred Night Yesterday, I meandered down to the pier at the mouth of the CT River to walk off some pumpkin pie. There wasn’t a soul there except for a diving duck who seemed to be playing hide and go seek in the shallows....
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: John 21: 1-14 The Time Jesus Cooked a Culturally Appropriate Meal A few weeks ago, I was privileged to sit with Joseph and Martine Kazadi over lunch. As we ate, they narrated their long and arduous odyssey from Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Psalm 130; Matthew 6: 5-13 Forgive Us Our Trespasses (Different Ways to Pray, Part V) I’ve been trying to get down, To the heart of the matter, But the flesh it gets weak, And the ashes will scatter, But I think it’s about Forgiveness…Forgiveness. -Don Henley,...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Isaiah 24: 18b-20; Psalm 40: 1-3; Luke 7: 11-17 “When Things Fall Down, Who Lifts Them Up?” Today’s sermon unfolds something like a Chinese box, where removing the lid from one box reveals another, similar box inside of it, and then another inside...
by Robert McCracken | Sermons
HOLY CONVERSATIONS John 4: 5-21, 21-30 Holy Conversations Whenever I hear this scripture passage about the Woman at the Well meeting Jesus I feel like I’m listening in on a very private conversation. Holy, deep and real conversations are like that. Sometimes,...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
SERVICE TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE FROM SANCTUARY OF MALIK AND ZAHIDA INTRODUCTION BY STEVE JUNGKEIT (audio only) REMARKS BY MALIK AND ZAHIDA, Our sanctuary family (audio only) REMARKS BY LINA TUCK, Chair of our Immigration Assistance Committee CONCLUDING MESSAGE BY...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Text: Proverbs 8: 1-4, 32-36 “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child” “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall,” Robert Frost wrote in 1914, a line that has planted itself in my imagination like a sentinel. I thought about it when I spent two...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
THIS WAS STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY, AND WE ASKED 5 PEOPLE, INCLUDING STEVE, TO OFFER TESTIMONIALS DESCRIBING WHAT THE 1ST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH HAS MEANT TO THEM. THE PRESENTERS WERE JOHN KIKER, RACHEL GABRIEL, DOUG KIEM, FAYE RICHARDSON, AND STEVE. JOHN KIKER In the spirit...
by Robert McCracken | Sermons
THIS SUNDAY WAS A SPECIAL SERVICE OF CELEBRATION AND RECOGNITION FOR REV. CARLEEN GERBER’S 42 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE CHURCH. THE SERVICE INCLUDED SIX SPOKEN REFLECTIONS, AND SELECTIONS BY THE CHOIR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA AND THE FCCOL...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
THIS SUNDAY WAS A SPECIAL SERVICE OF CELEBRATION AND RECOGNITION FOR REV. CARLEEN GERBER’S 42 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE CHURCH. SIX REFLECTIONS WERE OFFERED: The Rev. David W. Good was FCCOL Senior Minister for 37 years until 2012, and is now our Minister...
by Robert McCracken | Sermons
Exodus 1:13-22 NRSV Midwives of Justice: Let the Children Live Several weeks ago I sat with Prudence Allen, one of our church members, in her kitchen. One of the joys of being a minister is getting to visit people in their homes where I hear amazing stories. As a...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Genesis 12: 1; Matthew 6: 11; Matthew 4: 1-4 Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread (Different Ways to Pray, Part 4) Over the last several weeks, we’ve been exploring what it means to pray, moving in a non-linear fashion through different practices of...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Matthew 6: 5-13 “Our Father, Who Art in Heaven…” (Different Ways to Pray, Part III) We say it every week. I’ve known the words by heart since I was six, maybe seven. They trip off my tongue in sequence, so that I rarely have to think about what...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Ephesians 3: 14-21 Different Ways to Pray, Part II: Strengthening Your Core Several weeks ago now, I shared with you an experience I had this summer, traveling into a mountain hollow in Kentucky to hear a distinctive form of singing found in the Old...
by Mario Baldessari | Sermons
Texts: Romans 5: 20; Romans 8: 28, 31-39 Estrangement and Grace A week ago, I began by referring to the peculiar qualities of this thing called preaching, which is where I wish to begin today as well. It’s peculiar because I thought I might say one thing to you this...
