Ascension Written Sermons

The Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost Matthew 18:15-20 And They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love? “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord And we pray that our unity will one day be restored And they'll know we are Christians by our love. We will work with each other, we will work side by side And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.”             So, I want to have you all do something for me this morning.   I want to have you all take just a brief moment, and I want you to reflect on that song.   Reflect on those words that we all know so well, and consider, consider whether or not you think that the world, people in general, know us, actually know Christians by their love.   Do people actually associate Christianity, today, with love?   Take ju...

God in the Gap Pent. 17A, Sept. 2, 2017 Rob Gieselmann God already knows Moses – That’s why God calls him by name: Moses Moses. On the other hand, Moses does not know God. He pretends to, but he doesn’t. When God finishes giving Moses instructions, Moses impertinently asks – Well then, who are you? Who shall I tell them is sending me? It’s God. But, god who? Who is God? What is God? St. Francis is said to have asked the same question every day of his life, Who are you, God, and who am I? Now, we think of God as God – but the term, god, is not really a name; it is a category. According to Webster’s, a god is a higher being. And over the centuries people have acknowledged many of these higher beings. Thor is a god, as are Zeus and Apollo. The golden calf was a god, as was Diana in the Book of Acts. Thus, Moses needs that particular god appearing to Moses in the burning bush –    to distinguish himself, which he does – Turns out, this God is life itself. The ver...

From a Distance Rob Gieselmann, Pent. 16A-17, August 27, 2017 I’m wondering this morning, what was your experience of the eclipse? When the upstart moon could no longer tolerate its second-tier position to the sun – that moon jumped head-long in front of the sun, blocking fire and light and all means of convention.             What was your experience? Were you with friends?    Were you among those who traveled to Grace Point, to eat a covered-dish lunch, and then lie on your back along the grassy peninsula? Maybe you invited your wife to join you on your fishing boat, in the middle of Ft. Loudon Lake, anchored to a pier, with an osprey nest directly overhead? The osprey cackled epithets at you – that is, until the light went dark and the birds and fish and boats with noisy motors, were quelled into silence… The Lord is in his holy Temple, Let all the earth keep silence before him. Emily Vreeland t...