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Read past sermons collected in this archive.
“What In Us Is Dark, Illumine” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Isaiah 14: 12-15; Matthew 4: 1-4; “On Mr. Milton’s Paradise Lost,” by Andrew Marvell What in me is dark, illumine… -John Milton, Paradise Lost Having entered the season of Lent, it is necessary to spend at least a little [...]
“Bearing Witness: How to Speak Love in a Storm” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-NagerTexts: Exodus 23: 9, Mark 4: 34-41 Walking into a detention center is a surreal experience. You hand in your driver’s license, sign paperwork, lock your belongings in a locker and pass through a metal detector with your shoes [...]
“A Sublime Madness” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Isaiah 58: 1, 6-9; Jeremiah 20: 9 “A Sublime Madness” One of the sharpest minds the United States has ever produced happened to be a minister, a theologian, and a social theorist in the denomination to which we belong – the United [...]
“The World is Lit By Lightening” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Exodus 19: 1-2, 16-19; Matthew 24: 23-27; John 1: 1-5 “Blow out your candles, Laura.Nowadays the world is lit by lightning.” -Tennessee WilliamsThe Glass Menagerie Years ago our family spent a summer in Vermont, in a town [...]
“Where Shall Wisdom Be Found: A Story of Pilgrimage and Discovery” Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Proverbs 2: 1-10; Matthew 2: 12 Where Shall Wisdom Be Found: A Story of Pilgrimage and Discovery Nearly six years ago, the white suburbs had to learn how to say Black Lives Matter [...]
“Scripts for the Pageant” Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Psalm 119: 97-105; Matthew 2: 1-12; John 1: 14 Where shall wisdom be found? That question from the Book of Job is one that reverberates on Epiphany Sunday, during which we retell the story of the Magi in search of [...]
“How Newness Enters the World” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Ezra 9: 1-4, Nehemiah 13: 1-3, Matthew 1: 1-16 It’s always a good idea to read the fine print. That applies to the mortgage on your house, it applies to the list of side-effects on the medication your physician has [...]
“Labor of Love” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Luke 1: 26-38; Luke 2: 1-7 A Labor of Love It is the custom of most churches to hold off on reading Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus until Christmas Eve, or perhaps until the fourth Sunday of Advent. This morning, [...]
“Estrangement and Grace: Lessons from the Prodigal Family” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Text: Luke 15:11-32 “But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.” Luke 15:20 My whole life I’ve heard the [...]
No Condemnation, Part II: “He Descended Into Hell: On the Third Day He Rose Again from the Dead” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: The Apostle’s Creed; Isaiah 53: 3-4; I Peter 3: 18b-20 One of the things we emphasize over and over, and especially when we’re welcoming new members, [...]
“A Past That Promises More” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Genesis 2:2, 3:7; Genesis 4: 1-10; Romans 8: 1-2 No Condemnation: The Unspoken History of a Strong Emotion What if the history of the world – its wars, its peace, its economics, its art and artifacts, its [...]
“A Past That Promises More” Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Deuteronomy 4:9; 32:7; Luke 22: 14-19 Not long ago, a close friend sent me a picture of himself with somebody else I didn’t recognize. “Look who came to visit,” the accompanying message said. I looked closely, [...]
“Innovation and Creativity in a World of Laws” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Psalm 1: 1-3; Exodus 20: 1-21 Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. -Psalm 1 One of the things I enjoy most in [...]
“Remind Us Again, Brave Friend” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager John 6:1-13 “Remind Us Again, Brave Friend” Many years ago, I was teaching at UCC Summer camp on Lake Winnipesaukee. I met a man there who, though retired, had been a young activist in the Civil Rights Movement of the [...]
“Some Churches I Have Loved” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Deuteronomy 30: 11-14; Philippians 1: 1-11 Some Churches I Have Loved A few weeks ago, a small group composed of members of our church Boards, along with some parents and young people, gathered together on a Sunday afternoon to talk [...]
“Green Grass – 40 Years of Partnership” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Isaiah 11: 1; Matthew 5: 1-12 (Indigenous People’s Version) A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse… Isaiah 11: 1 A little more than a year ago, six travelers from FCCOL visited our Lakota friends in [...]
“Church, After All” Rev. Dr. Steven JungkeitTexts: Isaiah 58: 11-12; Isaiah 61: 4 A few weeks ago, I spoke about the ways different understandings of God can persist, even after older or outmoded images of God become unsustainable. Today I’d like to do something similar, this time for [...]
“The Grace of Small Things” Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Luke 14: 25-30 It’s good to look out and to see so many of you back after the summer – our parents and families, our choir, all of you really. It’s nice to have the band back together after [...]
“God, After All” Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit Texts: Acts 17: 22-28; The Gospel of Thomas, Fragment 77 The Wizard of Oz is having a moment once again, out in the heat of Nevada – images from it are being projected on the outside of the Sphere. Which feels [...]
“What Must We Do” Rev. Cathy ZallText: Luke 10:25-37 Our passage today opens with a question: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”. I rephase this a bit: If I want to thrive…if I want to live a life most deeply aligned with the person God created me [...]
“Our God, Our People, and Our Place” Rev. Dr. Laurie McKnight Text: Genesis 15:1-6, Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 “Our People, Our Places, Our God” My Aunt Alyce and Uncle David would often worship here in Old Lyme when they were at their summer home in Westbrook. They told me what [...]
“Keep My Commandments” Rev. Marilyn Baugh KendrixTexts: John 14:15 -21, Matthew 22:36 -40 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments,” says Jesus to his disciples. He knows that his time with them is shortly coming to an end. Jesus knows that he has taught them many things during [...]
“Poems of Praise: On Trees, Treasures and Other Timely Gifts” Rev. Laura Fitzpatrick-Nager Text: Psalm 8: 1, 3-7, Psalm 96: 11-12, Psalm 104: 1-6, and Matthew 6:21 “I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s [...]
“But If Not” Rev. A. Reilly Page Text: Daniel 3:8-18 There are four origin stories in our country. Your ancestors were either Indigenous, Enslaved, Immigrants, or Refugees. You may check all that apply. In each of these origin stories, we have individual narratives of incredible [...]
