Sermons
Choose The Sermon: On Forgiveness
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
You all submitted some great ideas for sermons. The suggestion for today is forgiveness which feels all too appropriate these days because I feel like I am carrying a lot of anger – especially about the ways that immigration reform is oh so close and the politicians will not work together for the well-being of […]
Holy Curiosity
Speaker: Michelle Burkholder
I grew up as a child of the 80s. In the 80s, as in each decade I suppose, there were lots of quirky cultural entertainment outlets. One of those was “Choose Your Own Adventure” books. I love these stories because they were like a game in a book and, as you likely know, I love […]
Choose the Sermon: Why Do We Work So Much?
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
It seems really meta to have worked so much on a sermon about why we work so much. So I tried not to work “so much” on this sermon. Life in the DMV is all about work. Perhaps those of you who come from away find this to be case where you are as well. […]
Choose The Sermon: Dinosaurs and Noah – Why Does a Creator Destroy Their Creation?
Speaker: Michelle Burkholder
Genesis 1:1-2:1 [Adapted] In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth became chaos and emptiness, and darkness came over the face of the Deep – and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said: “Light: Be!” and light was. God saw that light was […]
Choose the Sermon: On Sorrow
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
(On sorrow — how to hold it lovingly and gracefully for yourself, others, your community and world) Earlier in the summer we asked you to “Choose the sermon,” to suggest something you want the preachers to tackle. One of you contributed this: “On sorrow — how to hold it lovingly and gracefully for yourself, […]
Finding The Line
Speaker: Michelle Burkholder
You may have noticed in the weekly announcements that we have had a submission form open for a summer series called: You Choose The Sermon. We were planning on starting that series in August. But it was hot this week. Which felt like summer. And last week folks got really into the conversation about plumb […]
The Embrace
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
Today is July 11, 7/11. 7-Eleven has a tradition of giving everyone free Slurpees to celebrate the day they call their birthday. I don’t often go to 7-Eleven – even for free Slurpees. But last Sunday night, Eric got stung by a bee and looked like he needed some Benadryl. So I ventured to one […]
Founding Mother of Our Country? Remembering Pocahontas on July 4
Speaker: Kimberly Schmidt
In 1608, Captain John Smith, a major figure in today’s sermon, sailed up the waters of the Chesapeake Bay from Jamestown Colony. He sailed up what we now call the Anacostia River and disembarked onto Nacotchtank lands. Smith and his crew found a riparian paradise where woodland forests stretched long fingers into shallow coastal plains. […]
Sneaker & Stained Glass Revelations
Speaker: Michelle Burkholder
What has surprised me most in this past week are the sounds I am not hearing. For the past month each day (other than rainy ones) the air has been reverberating with cicada songs. Some days the decibel was almost unbearable – especially for those of us who live with our house windows open in […]
Letters To And From Prison
Speaker: Cynthia Lapp
While our series is called “Letters from Prison”, I have to say that getting letters to prison is not always simple. The first letter I sent to Jason, who is in a minimum security facility in Illinois, was returned. When I inquired with Jason’s wife about this, she said, “Oh shoot. No stickers allowed, not […]