In Sermons:

Coming Home

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 28, 2026

God’s faithful people were not content with this world. They wanted a better one, their true home.

There is a famous novel by Thomas Wolfe called You Can’t Go Home Again. Of course you can go back to the place you grew up; the problem is, it’s not the same as the pictures you have in your mind. Either it has changed, or you have. Probably both. But even if your childhood home wasn’t exactly ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Mind To Serve

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 28, 2026

In order to grow in likeness to Christ, we need the Holy Spirit to give us a willingness to submit, to consider others more important than ourselves, and to persevere even when things don't go our way.

We’ve been talking a lot, in the last few weeks, about the body of Christ, the church, this group of people brought together by the Holy Spirit. We’ve looked at the diversity of the body of Christ: how different we all are, in background, in temperament, in strength Spirit and weaknesses. We’ve ...read more

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1, Mark 10:42-45, John 13:12-17, Philippians 2:5-8, Romans 12:1-8  (view more)  (view less)

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Live Free Or Die

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 28, 2026

Living for Jesus really does bring freedom, while living for ourselves is a sentence of death.

This is sermon in stereo. Out of one speaker comes the OT story, and out of the other comes the new. Brass on one side, strings on the other. Each one by itself has its own logic, but the two together, with a little percussion when the moment calls for it, adds up to quite a bit more than each ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 14:1-29, Hebrews 10:19-25

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

No Experience Required

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 27, 2026

Just as God gave Moses his name, his presence, a helper, and the tools and skills to get the job done, God does the same for us.

Every pastor in the world has a “call” story. It’s the answer to the question “What led you into the pastorate?” And they’re all different. Some sense God’s call early on, and never waver; some sense God’s call early on and fight God for years, sometimes decades, before giving in and letting God ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 4:1-17

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Don’t Stop Now

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Apr 27, 2026

We can pack up our sacred things and enough bread for the journey and set out on a new path, following Jesus into the new world he is already bringing forth, or we can stay where we are and get left behind.

A key incident in the Israelite's journey narrative was, of course, the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian armies. It’s wasn't the most important thing that God did, or would do, but it’s the one that has the most star power, the most shock value, so to speak. ...read more

Scripture: Exodus 13:17-22

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Balancing Act

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Feb 3, 2026

God's justice system provides a way to bring balance back into a community or relationship scarred and broken by violenve.

One Monday in April, Carl Hailey took the M16 automatic rifle he had gotten hold of from an old Marine Corps buddy, sneaked into the Ford county courthouse, and hid in a closet. Two hours later, as Billy Cobb and Pete Williams were being escorted from the jail to the courthouse for their bond ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 20:1-6, Numbers 35:9-28

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Ignorance Kills

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Feb 3, 2026

Obedience to God is good, but obedience must be informed by knowledge of who God is, and what he requires of us.

A news item recently caught my attention. "A 10 year old Nicaraguan girl, Hazel Borge, could soon die because her parents devout Jehovah’s Witnesses are refusing to allow doctors to give her a blood transfusion." [January 20, 2000 MANAGUA, Nicaragua (Reuters)] “The committee in ...read more

Scripture: Micah 6:6-8

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

A Place For God

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Feb 3, 2026

The real temple is the one God builds out of us acting in community.

When I was in Pittsburgh working on my Doctor of Ministry program I noticed dozens of huge, impressive, mostly brick churches - which are if not exactly empty, certainly not filled to bursting. It’s worse in Europe, of course. How many of you have been to places like Notre Dame in Paris or ...read more

Scripture: 2 Samuel 7:1-16, Jeremiah 7:9-11, Ephesians 2:19-21

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Ready To Serve

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Feb 1, 2026

Seeing the world through eyes of faith, and living in devotion to God, doesn’t just happen by accident. It emerges from intentional nurture from one day to the next, and from one generation to the next. It is nurtured in the retelling of the stories, and in the remaking of the vows.

There’s a story I rather like about the college freshman biology class which kept a rattlesnake in a cage in the laboratory. The students enjoyed the monthly feeding almost as much as the snake did. The entire class would gather around the cage and watch in completely absorbed and attentive ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Border Crossing

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Feb 1, 2026

In the Israelites' crossing through the Jordan and into the land of promise there are details which transfer quite remarkably clearly into instructions for our own entry into the land - the state of being - that God has promised to us in Christ Jesus.

What kind of images do the words “Promised Land” mean to you? I didn’t see the TV show by that name very often, but it seemed to me, with my limited exposure, that this was a traveling family, always ready to pick up and move somewhere new, always optimistic about what was around the next corner, ...read more

Scripture: Joshua 3:7-17, Matthew 23:4-7

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Building The City Of God Series

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jan 30, 2026

In the city of God there is identity and there is purpose. Each one of God’s people matters, and each one of God’s people belongs. And the city of God is ours to build, if we commit ourselves to the task.

In preaching class they taught us to know our congregations, so speak to their concerns. So as I was preparing this sermon, I asked myself “What do I know about the inner city? Well, when I lived on Eliot just south of Lake St I was mugged walking from my car to my front door. When my brother lived ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 25:14-29

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Wiscdom 101

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jan 30, 2026

The book of Proverbs does not guarantee a stress-free life. But If you listen to God's Word, and do your best to make God-honoring choices at every step of the way, you will get out on the other side without having lost your sanity, your self-respect, or your soul.

How many of you know how to play basketball? Not how many are good at it, but know more or less how it works: one ball, five players on a team, two nets, one at either end of the field. When you go out there to play, you have a rough idea of what’s going on, right? How would you feel if you went ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

What Is A Miracle?

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Dec 29, 2025

The greatest miracle of all is knowing that things will come out right in the end because of God’s love for us.

My brother Jeremy picked me up at the airport a couple of weeks ago when I flew to Pittsburgh. He isn’t from Pittsburgh, though, he’s from Alaska. So we relied on Mapquest to get from the airport to the seminary. Pittsburgh is the hardest city to drive in I know. Well, they tell me Boston is worse, ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 17:8-16, Matthew 6:31-34

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

When Rights Are Wrong

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Dec 29, 2025

Just because you have a right to do something doesn't mean that it is right for you to do it.

Just because our Scripture reading for this week was 1 Kings doesn't mean that it was easy to decide what to preach on. It's so full of illustrations of the use and misuse of power that I could probably spend the whole month before moving on to 2 Kings, which is just as rich with examples ...read more

Scripture: 1 Kings 11:42-43, 1 Kings 12:1-19, Philippians 2:5-8

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

The Last Mourning

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Dec 25, 2025

We cannot imagine what Mary Magdalene must have felt that long ago Easter morning. But maybe we should try.

They have taken him away. They have taken my Lord away. Why did they have to do it? Wasn't it enough to kill him? Why did they have to steal his body? He isn't any threat to them any more, if he ever was, and neither are we. Why couldn't they just leave us alone to tend his grave? ...read more

Scripture: John 20:11-18

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed