In Sermons:

You And Who Else?

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 3, 2023

The Pharisees paid lip service to God, but were actually operating under their own power, for their own agendas, not God's. That is why they didn't really want to be told that Jesus was operating under God's authority.

“Who do you think you are? What right have you to tell me what to think?” Has anyone ever said that to you? It’s not very pleasant. But it happened to me, once. Back when I was just starting seminary. I had run into an acquaintance of mine named Nora. She was pretty vulnerable and sensitive to ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 21:23-32

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Service Entrance

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2023

In God’s kingdom it’s how we handle our everyday lives, not whether or not we make a big splash, that truly matters.

Anybody remember the riots that broke out some years ago when Sony’s PlayStation 3 was scheduled for release? Nearly 400 people in Boston’s Copley Place mall overwhelmed mall security. Nearly a dozen police cruisers responded to the call. Fortunately, no one was hurt, and the crowd dispersed when ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:20-28, 1 Peter 5:1-5

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

God Isn’t Fair

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 2, 2023

God isn’t fair. God is lavish. Everything is a gift, including our lives, whether short or long.

Do you remember the Palm Sunday five years ago when twin suicide bombings took place in Egypt? One was at St. George’s Church in the Nile delta, and the other was at Saint Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, the seat of the Coptic papacy. It’s one of the oldest Christian communities in ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Condition Critical

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 1, 2023

The differences between us - you and me - and the brothers and sisters we find it so easy to criticize - shrinks to nothing at all when we look, instead, at the difference between ourselves and Jesus.

A few years ago I had an interesting talk with my mother about the nature of friendship. At one point I made the comment that the only bottom line requirement I had for a friend was that I needed to know I’d be forgiven for my mistakes. Her response was telling. She said that I had unrealistically ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35, Matthew 7:1-5

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Getting Even

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jul 1, 2023

We can be sure that if payment needs to be made, God will see to it - and he keeps better accounts than you and I ever could.

Robert Simon is dead. He was killed last Tuesday. His family knew him as Robbie. Maybe you know him better as “Mudman.” And maybe you thought, as I did when I heard the news, that justice had been done. Because, you see, Mudman Simon killed Franklinville police officer Lee Gonzalez four and a ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Faith And Fortitude Series

Contributed by Freddy Fritz on Jul 1, 2023

In Daniel 3:1-30, we learn how God calls believers to deal with pluralism and pain.

Introduction The Book of Daniel is about Daniel. You may recall that Daniel was deported from Jerusalem to Babylon when he was about fifteen years old. Three friends were exiled to Babylon with Daniel, along with thousands of other Jewish leaders. Daniel and his three friends spent the rest of ...read more

Scripture: Daniel 3:1-30

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Glorifying God In Hostile Territory Series

Contributed by Freddy Fritz on Jun 25, 2023

In Daniel 1:1-2:49, we learn that God calls believers to glorify him in hostile territory.

Introduction For the next four Sundays, I would like to look briefly at the first six chapters of the book of Daniel in a series that I am calling, “Life in Babylon.” The reason I would like to look at Daniel is that it answers the following question, “How do I live as a believer in the Biblical ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Family Obligations

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 24, 2023

Why is it that we come to church? Why do we open ourselves up to the possibility that we might have to confront ourselves, to repent and even to change?

How many of you have heard someone say, “Why do I have to go to church? Can’t I be just as good of a Christian at home, reading the Bible, doing good deeds, praying by myself, maybe watching a favorite preacher TV in the comfort of my own living room? Why should I bother getting up on Sunday ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 18:15-20

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Mission Possible

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 24, 2023

Peter could only do the impossible as long as he focused on Jesus instead of on his surroundings.

As sometimes happens, this sermon took a turn I had not expected once I really got into it. Not a very big one, mind you, but I would up focusing on the gospel lesson instead of Paul’s letter to the Galatians. I do like, when I can, to tie the three lessons together, and these three seemed to be ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 14:22-32, Matthew 19:21-26, Galatians 1:11-24, Genesis 37:1-28

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Seed Pearls

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 24, 2023

Every act that you perform is a seed of one kind or another. Something will grow from it. What will your seeds produce?

Wars have been fought over differences seemingly smaller than the contrasts we see between the five parables in this passage from Matthew’s gospel. There were riots in the streets of Constantinople during the 4th century over whether Jesus was of “like” substance with the father or “the same” ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 13:31-52

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Sexualidad Blindada

Contributed by Wilbur Madera Rivas on Jun 24, 2023

Honren con su cuerpo a Dios.

¿Te ha tocado estar en el banco cuando llega la compañía transportadora de valores? En una ocasión estaba en el banco haciendo un depósito y tuve la oportunidad de ver que llegaran en su camión blindado a recargar el cajero automático. Es interesante ver todas ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 7:1-4

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Excuses, Excuses

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 23, 2023

Everybody has an excuse for not getting seriously involved with God. And some of those reasons are genuine. But some excuses are just another way of saying “I have more important things to do with my life, don’t bother me.”

Jesus had been preaching and teaching, healing all kinds of sicknesses and casting out demons, up and down the Sea of Galilee for months. Everywhere he went people gathered, waiting for hours - some just to hear him speak, others hoping for the chance to ask him a question or even just to touch ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:16-30

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Great Expectations

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 23, 2023

John the Baptist's followers struggle with changing their allegiance to Jesus.

Zach was tired. He had been coming down to Tiberias every week for almost two months, bringing news and food to John in prison, and it looked like he’d probably be doing it for the rest of the year. Nothing had changed. After Herod arrested John for publicly accusing him of incest and adultery, ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

20-20 Vision

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 21, 2023

The reward of knowing the mind of God, the reward of living in the will of God, is freedom. Fear of people keeps us imprisoned; fear of God sets us free.

At the Alpha conference I went to a few weeks ago I had a very interesting conversation with a colleague on the more liberal end of our denominational spectrum. It was particularly interesting in that the Alpha program is for evangelism, and I was surprised to see someone on the other end ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 10:24-33, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, 2 Corinthians 2:12

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Search Party

Contributed by Alison Bucklin on Jun 21, 2023

God chooses to work through people, weak and sinful as we may be, to be the finders of the lost, the bearers of his message, the search party to find and redeem the lost ones, the captives, the hostages. We’re it, folks.

Samuel Goldwyn, the famous movie mogul who was half of Metro Goldwyn Meyer, was once criticized for not being more socially conscious in his movies, that he produced entertainment without any redeeming social importance. He replied, “If you want to send a message, use Western Union.” And he had a ...read more

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed