Sermon text: Mark 16: 1-8 I will begin this sermon with a little performance art. Today, I will sing for you the classic tune “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” beginning with the second word. Me out to the ball game take Me out with the crowd buy Me some peanuts and Cracker Jack …
Passion text: John 18:1- 19:42 This week I was driving through Hollidaysburg and I spotted a very black billow of smoke rising into the air. My immediate reaction was alarm; something was on fire! But the billow was short lived. It turned out to be only a puff drifting up into the sky. A moment …
Sermon text: John 13: 1-17, 31b-35 In the 1960s Peter Scholtes was working as a Catholic priest on the South Side of Chicago. At the time he was directing a youth choir and was looking for an appropriate song for an ecumenical and interracial event. After a long search he came up empty and decided …
Sermon text: Mark 11: 1-11 Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the back of a colt and in Mark we read, “Many people spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut in the fields.” Now, as we celebrate Palm Sunday we follow suit with our shouts of “hosanna!” and …
Sermon text: John 12: 20-33 In the Gospel of John, Jesus and his disciples make the journey to Jerusalem three times to celebrate the Jewish Passover. This will be the final journey to the holy city. The last journey. And frankly, this chapter of John, chapter 12, marks the end of Jesus’ public ministry. Jesus …
Sermon text: John 3: 14-21 Have you ever had a hobby or skill that you wanted to master, but every time you tried to become more proficient you walked away feeling frustrated? Some activity where any progress you made seemed imperceptible? What was that one hobby, craft, skill, or sport that you wanted to get …
Sermon text: Exodus 20: 1-17, John 2: 13-22 A dozen of us sat around tables at the Flyin’ Lion in Jennerstown, and in between bites of cheeseburger and sips of our drinks we talked about faith. Once a month we gathered to weave together a contemporary topic of public importance and our Christian faith, and …
Sermon text: Genesis 17: 1-7, 15-16 and Mark 8: 31-38 There are many stressful events that we experience in life, but one of the absolute worst is moving. Sure, moving can be filled with promise and anticipation for what’s to come, but it is also filled with packing and schlepping boxes, changing over utilities and …
Sermon text: Genesis 9: 8-17 Months ago, a curious phrase kept popping up in conversations—the phrase was “cancel culture.” Usually, the remark was something along the lines of “I’m so sick of cancel culture.” Often, this remark accompanied a complaint about some activity that was being postponed or lost entirely due to the pandemic. Sporting …
Sermon text: Psalm 51 Consumer culture has had massive success with the Church’s two major holidays—Christmas has Santa Claus and Easter has the Easter Bunny—but they haven’t quite figured out a way to sell Ash Wednesday. No, the church gets to keep this one all to ourselves. You won’t find Ash Wednesday storewide sales or …