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# Memorial Congregational Church

UCCE Network of websites

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Hello world!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/hello-world/) - Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!

## Pages

- [UCCE Homepage](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/) - No Matter Who You Are Or Where You Are On Life’s Journey, You’re Welcome Here. Memorial Congregational ChurchWorship with us Sundays at 10 a.m. We are a welcoming family from all walks of life, diverse in gender, age, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, abilities and ethnicity and comprised of seekers of truth. New to UCC? View
- [Our Team](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/our-team/) - Our Team Get to know your church leaders and staff. Pastor Our pastor of 11 years, Rev. Richard Jones, retired in 2023. The church is currently in a transition phase. For the time being, Rev. Michael Scott is providing ongoing pulpit supply. Stay tuned for more news. Michelle Salvonelli Organist Michelle, an outstanding organist, pianist,
- [Contact Us](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/contact-us/) - Contact Us Have Questions? Reach out to our team. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form. Name * First Last Email * Comment or Message Submit
- [About Us](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/about-us/) - About Us Learn more about our church, history and team. What Defines Us? We are an Open and Affirming Church of the United Church of Christ. In our effort to share the love of Christ with everyone, we follow his example and so are open to, and affirming of, all people, regardless of background, racial
- [Worship & Sermons](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/worship-and-sermons/) - Worship and Sermons Click the links below to read recent Sunday sermons or to view the video of a worship service Worship with us every Sunday @ 10 a.m. All are welcome Dress as you like 4 Memorial Street, Baldwinville, MA 01436 Sermons and Worship Videos Recent Sermons With the retirement of our pastor, Richard
- [News and Events](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/news-listings/) - The Latest
- [Sermon Archives](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-archives/) - Some Previous Sermons 2023 Sermon Text: Surprised at Any Age 12/31 Worship Video: https://youtu.be/f8eKa62IKfM Christmas Eve Meditation Text: The Christmas Moon Christmas Eve Worship Video: https://youtu.be/oubJSJjOXCo Sermon Text: The Carols of Christmas: Silent Night 12/24 Worship Video: https://youtu.be/33V0MyivorI Sermon Text: The Carols of Christmas: Angels from the Realms of Glory 12/17 Worship Video: https://youtu.be/St2CEvfgULU
- [Giving](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/giving/) - Giving to the Memorial Congregational Church Thank you for donating to our church. Without your support, it wouldn't be possible to make a positive impact in our community through spreading the Gospel and missions outreach. Learn more about how we use your gift and ways to give. Our Special Offerings How We Use Your Gifts
- [Frequently Asked Questions](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/frequently-asked-questions/) - FAQs View our "About Us" page to learn more. General FAQ Want to learn more about our church? Here are some general frequently asked questions to get you started. Do I need to dress up for church? No, we have members in dresses and ties along with jeans and t-shirts. However you feel most comfortable,

## Alert Banner

- [Lenten Food Drive 2026](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/alert-banner/1599/)

## News Listings

- [Updates](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/news-listings/news-item-headline-here-displayed-as-h2-with-room-to-take-up-one-line-of-copy/) - SEARCH COMMITTEE UPDATE: The Search Committee is working on the suggestions from our area conference minister Carol Steinbrecher. Once that is done, profile will be posted. If you know of anyone in the hospital, homebound, or in need of a visit, please contact Chairperson of the Deacons, Joanne. We need everyone’s help keeping in touch

## Sermon Library

- [The Frog Prince](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-frog-prince/) - Reading today’s passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans got me thinking about the old Brothers Grimm fairy tale “The Frog Prince.” You know how it goes. The young princess sat down by a cool spring playing with a golden ball, which rolled into the water. A frog appeared and struck a bargain with her:
- ["Who Knew?" (Thoughts on Oneness and Love)](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/who-knew-thoughts-on-oneness-and-love/) - Genesis 1:1-5 1 John 4:7-16 I have strayed from the lectionary this morning and offered a couple of scripture readings that are part of what I want share today. I have decided to simply talk with you this morning because what I have to say are things that
- [The Great Commission](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-great-commission/) - Jesus’ command in this passage to go out and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that he had taught them is often called “The Great Commission.” The important words here are “go out.”
- [Finding God in Weird Places](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/finding-god-in-weird-places/) - Throughout his ministry, Jesus used a lot of metaphors to talk about the kingdom of God. In today’s reading, he refers to the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a pearl and a fishing net. I don’t know if Jesus told all of these parables back to back like it
- [Bartimaeus Blind No More](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/bartimaeus-blind-no-more/) - This is another joint sermon. It was written with a close friend of mine named John. I got to know John while he was incarcerated at the Concord Prison. He filled in for the Chaplain after the Chaplain moved on to San Quentin and we started writing sermons together. This sermon is different than the
- [Wo Is My Neighbor?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/wo-is-my-neighbor/) - I’m sure everyone has heard the story of the good Samaritan. This story is generally viewed as saying that if someone needs your help, you should help that person. However, this story is saying much more than that. The fact that a Samaritan stops to help the injured person when others did not is key
- [Jesus Heals the Demoniac](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/restorative-justice-2/) - Last week, I talked about Restorative Justice, and how Restorative Justice repairs harm that was caused. Repairing the harm allows people to heal from transgressions cause by others, and from their own transgressions. Today, I would like to talk about the power of God to heal us, even in our most broken places. This sermon
- [Restorative Justice](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/restorative-justice/) - In today’s reading, Jesus encounters a chief tax collector name, Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a Publican for Rome. His job was not to collect taxes to be used for the benefit of the people of Israel. Instead, he collected taxes and gave the money to Rome. Publicans also became very wealthy by collecting taxes in excess
- [Prison Ministry: Seeing with New Eyes - Rev. Noelle Dattilo](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/prison-ministry-seeing-with-new-eyes/) - I have often heard people say that they think of me when they hear the passage from Matthew where Jesus says that when you visit someone in prison, you are visiting Jesus. However, the passage that most reminds me of my own experience in the prisons is the conversion of Saul, who later became Paul.
- [Farewell Sermon](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/farewell-sermon/) - When I looked at the lectionary scriptures for this Sunday my first thought was to skip the lectionary! -They seemed so negative, so troubled and despairing. I thought, there is no way I can relate these to my last sermon here in Baldwinville! After I thought about it for a while, I decided the contrast
- [Eavesdropping on the Promises](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/eavesdropping-on-the-promises/) - As we think about Father’s Day and families the Abraham story seems to fit right in. In fact Genesis is filled with family stories and Abraham is recognized as the father of three of the world’s great religions. This morning we had just a piece of the Abraham & Sarah story. Of course, the bible
- [Notes in the Margin: The Bottom Line](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/notes-in-the-margin-the-bottom-line/) - It’s hard to know where to begin an ending. But, one thing I’m sure about: as I stand in this pulpit for the last time, I know that it matters most to me that I not talk around the edges of things. As they say in the corporate world, let’s cut to the chase. I
- [On Creation and Evolution](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-creation-and-evolution/) - There is, in Petersburg, Kentucky, something called a "Creation Museum." It is a twenty seven million dollar facility with “high-tech exhibits designed by a theme-park artist.” It includes animatronic dinosaurs and a wooden ark at least two stories tall, plus a special effects theater and planetarium. Some exhibits show dinosaurs aboard Noah's Ark and assert
- ["Jabberwocky"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/jabberwocky/) - “Bereshit, bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et-ha'aretz. Veha'aretz hayatah tohu vevohu, vehosheck al p'nai tahom. Veruah Elohim mirahefetz al-p'nai hamayim,” “En arche ein halogos, kai halogos ein pros ton theon, kai theos ein halogos.” Speaking in tongues?. . . or jabberwocky? “Twas brillig and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe: all mimsy
- [Who Are You?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/who-are-you/) - What is it that makes a person who they are? It’s the difficult question that arises when you meet someone new. How do you find out about them? What do you ask? The most common of such interrogatives (and one that, I must admit, I turn to myself all too frequently) is, “What do you
- [Saved Through Water](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/saved-through-water/) - Believe it or not, I never learned how to swim properly until I got to college (and stumbled upon a swim coach who took pity on me one day at the campus pool). Up to that time, all I could do was a modified dog paddle. I think my difficulties started when I was seven
- [Tripping Over the Cornerstone?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/tripping-over-the-cornerstone/) - When we first built out log home in the woods, I created a garden for Dadgie. The only problem was that beneath the two inch layer of soil in which the grass of our alleged lawn is planted there lies virtually nothing but rocks. It’s rocks and a little sand all the way down to
- [A Good Shepherd](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-good-shepherd/) - I’d like to open a little window for you on how I go about writing a sermon. The first thing I usually do is read the scripture passages that are listed in the lectionary (or Bible readings) for the Sunday in question. Sometimes I don’t find much there that “grabs” me, so I move on
- ["But We Had Hoped"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/but-we-had-hoped/) - Thinking of all the bombs dropped and missiles fired in Iran and Lebanon, destroying lives by the hundreds (and how we thought for a brief moment it might be done, only see it continue), I was reminded of how I myself am acquainted with grief. I have lost everyone in my original nuclear family except
- [“The Mouse in the Piano”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-mouse-in-the-piano/) - I was recently reminded of a story that apparently first appeared in the London Observer some time ago: It seems there was “a family of mice who lived all their lives in a large piano. To them in their piano-world came the music of the instrument, filling all the dark spaces with sound and harmony.
- [Standing Under the Resurrection](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/standing-under-the-resurrection/) - We’re pretty smart, we human beings. If you want proof of how smart we are, just open the newspaper any morning. You’ll find out that we can accelerate protons around a 17 mile long tube at near the speed of light and smash them into each other with the force of 7 trillion electron volts;
- [Real Power: Gandhi, King, and a Little Girl Named Ruby](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/real-power-gandhi-king-and-a-little-girl-named-ruby/) - As I have mentioned, I have been watching Ken Burns documentaries recently. One of the things that has struck me is how horrible and ugly beyond words the acts perpetrated in war have been – men, women, and children often slaughtered indiscriminately. And even today we see bombs and missiles dropped on civilian targets in
- [All Things Work Together for Good?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/all-things-work-together-for-good/) - I was eyeballing all these verses in the readings you heard this morning and, as all of you who have gotten to know me might guess, I settled on the one sentence in the whole thing that I found most upsetting: “All things work together for good for those who love God.” There’s a sizable
- [Abundant Life](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/abundant-life/) - Our gospel lesson today ends with just about my favorite utterance of Jesus: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John offers many cryptic words from Jesus about why he came, and what he was all about. He says, “I came . . . to testify to the truth, I came
- [Why Worship?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/why-worship/) - This lectionary reading from the gospel of John you heard this morning left me scratching my head. What struck me about the story was the question this woman at the well posed to Jesus. Put it this way: If Jesus suddenly appeared one day and gave you the opportunity to ask anything you wanted, what
- [On Peanut Butter and Wind](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-peanut-butter-and-wind/) - Thomas Friedman in an article in the Boston Globe mentioned a song from the Crystal Palace dinner theater in Aspen called “The Peanut Butter Affair.” The song related the story of “a C.E.O. who had gone to work one day, without properly washing his face, and still had a lump of peanut butter on his
- [“That’s a No!”: Reflections on Wealth, Invincibility, and Power](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/thats-a-no-reflections-on-wealth-invincibility-and-power-2/) - I'll never forget one occasion when I went into a gift shop to buy a gift for someone (I don’t remember what or for whom). I do remember that I was admiring some gift I thought would be ideal. I decided to buy it and picked up one that was boxed, opening the box to
- ["That’s a No!”: Reflections on Wealth, Invincibility, and Power](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/thats-a-no-reflections-on-wealth-invincibility-and-power/) - I'll never forget one occasion when I went into a gift shop to buy a gift for someone (I don’t remember what or for whom). I do remember that I was admiring some gift I thought would be ideal. I decided to buy it and picked up one that was boxed, opening the box to
- [Interpreting the Word](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/interpreting-the-word/) - Let me describe this scene for you, and see if it sounds familiar. You’re caught in a conversation you’d actually rather not be in, but you can’t find a graceful exit, so . . . there you are. The point of discussion is – let’s say – abortion, or gay rights, or birth control. And
- [The Light of the World](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-light-of-the-world/) - I want to begin by sharing with you two wonderful quotes, both of which have been widely, and falsely, attributed to great historical figures. The first is everywhere ascribed to Plato, though I find absolutely no evidence that it appears in any of his writings. It goes like this: “One can easily understand a child
- [Are We There Yet?  Thoughts on the Leaderless Revolution](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/are-we-there-yet-thoughts-on-the-leaderless-revolution/) - I have lately been watching Ken Burns documentaries: The American Revolution, The Roosevelts, Benjamin Franklin, America and the Holocaust. They are wonderfully made excursions into our history. And what has really struck me is how our beloved America was built on hubris, wasteful indifference, blood-lust, greed, and self-interest just as much as it was built
- [Hey, You!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/hey-you/) - A couple of years ago Dadgie and I took advantage of the low mortgage interest rates and refinanced our home loan. It turned out to be a good move, but the process was mind-bending. I cannot begin to tell you how many forms we had to try to comprehend, fill out, sign, and get to
- ["The Mystery Hidden for Ages"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-mystery-hidden-for-ages/) - Well, strap yourselves in. I have a message today that would get me thrown out of most churches (I thank the Lord, incidentally, that I’m here with all of you, because I don’t think you’ll expel me for this). Here it is: Christianity is not the one and only true religion. In fact, I believe
- [New Things](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/new-things/) - Why are we here? Why do you and I come to this place? What are we looking for? What are we finding? If the truth be known, we are probably here for a lot of different reasons. Some are here searching for meaning, for a connection with the transcendent and eternal. Some are here
- [Dancing Women and Fat Priests?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/dancing-women-and-fat-priests/) - The title of my sermon this morning springs quite naturally from my own reaction to reading the lectionary passage from Jeremiah. The prophet – or someone writing in his name – was describing the return of the people of Israel from their exile in foreign lands to their home, and I read, “Then shall the
- [Ha‘olam](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/haolam/) - There are a lot of reasons many of us will be glad to say goodbye to 2025. Among them is that it’s been difficult to watch the news without closing our eyes and releasing a sigh that is both an exclamation and a prayer: “God, have mercy.” Among the atrocities we have been horrified to
- [Bit-Players in the Nativity #4 - The Innkeeper](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/bit-players-in-the-nativity-4-the-innkeeper/) - During these Sundays, I have been examining those characters in the nativity drama with only small parts (bit-players, Hollywood calls them). In fact, the parts for the characters we are speaking about are so small that they are never even mentioned in the Bible. The most famous of these unmentioned bit-players, of course, is the
- [Bit-Players in the Nativity: #3 - The Shepherd Boy](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/bit-players-in-the-nativity-3-the-shepherd-boy/) - Seventy-four years ago, NBC-TV presented the first opera written for television. Menotti’s “Amal and the Night Visitors” became a Christmas classic. In this opera for children, Amahl, who was once a shepherd boy is now disabled and can walk only with a crutch. He and his mother are visited by three kings who are on
- [Bit-Players at the Nativity: #2 - The Donkey](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/bit-players-at-the-nativity-2-the-donkey/) - Have you ever stopped to consider the foolishness of what we Christians proclaim at this time of year? According to just about every standard and norm for rational, differentiated thought in our culture, you and I ought to be locked up in the psych unit for all this – the Christmas wreaths and candles and
- [Bit-Players at the Nativity: #1 - The Census Taker](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/bit-players-at-the-nativity-1-the-census-taker/) - This year, during Advent, I’ve decided to take a look with you at some of the characters in the story of Christ’s birth who are out of the spotlight – “bit-players,” if you will, in the drama of the Nativity. The characters that I intend to examine in these weeks have such unassuming roles that
- ["All Things"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/all-things/) - There are all kinds of interesting discussions I could enter into about this morning’s reading from the epistle to the Colossians. We could talk about authorship of the letter (it’s inscribed with the name of the apostle Paul, but the authenticity of its Pauline authorship has been questioned by several biblical scholars). We could delve
- [On Fate, Freewill, and the Meaning of Prophecy](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-fate-freewill-and-the-meaning-of-prophecy/) - In just the last couple of months we’ve seen typhoons and an earthquake in the Philippines, a landslide in Sudan that killed over a thousand people, more typhoons, flash floods and earthquakes throughout Asia and Europe. We’ve seen images on television and the Internet of neighborhoods and whole towns thoroughly destroyed. In recent days not
- [A Whole New Ball Game](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-whole-new-ball-game/) - Let me begin by saying that there is much about this sermon I do not want to preach, and much that I don’t want to hear. It is not a sermon that has welled up from my most treasured inner convictions; it has, rather, leapt out of the lectionary grabbing me by the shirt collar
- [Just Desserts!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/just-desserts/) - Sometimes our coffee hour becomes a time of enjoying just desserts (with two s’s). But, of course, there's a play on words at work here. It has to do with people getting what they deserve – their “just deserts” (with one s) – in other words, justice. I suppose if you carry the pun far
- [The Spendthrift Giver](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-spendthrift-giver/) - Early in the year 1756, a musician in the Salzburg court orchestra wrote a note to a friend in his hometown of Augsburg: “I must inform you that on 27 January, at 8 p.m., my dear wife was happily delivered of a boy; but the placenta had to be removed. She was therefore astonishingly weak.
- [Written on Your Heart](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/written-on-your-heart/) - My father used to whip us with a razor strap. He would double the strap over so that when it smacked our rear ends, the sides would slap together, and the sound of that strap snapping was far more terrifying than the actual pain from the smack on our bottoms. To this very day, when
- [All Broken, All Made Whole, All Rejoicing](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/all-broken-all-made-whole-all-rejoicing/) - Today is Access Sunday, and the beginning of Disability Awareness Week. It’s a date on the calendar that doesn’t exactly jump out at you like Halloween or Thanksgiving. I have to confess, my eyes initially just skipped along without it even registering. But, the more I turned it over in my head, the more I
- [Remembering](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/remembering/) - In today's scripture reading, Jesus relates a bizarre parable about a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus who both die, and when the rich man discovers his fate in the fires of Hades, he wants an emissary sent back from the dead to warn his five brothers not fall into the same careless ways
- ["True Riches"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/true-riches/) - The parable you heard read this morning is perhaps the most bizarre and hotly debated utterance said to have emanated from the mouth of Jesus. It’s been called the “parable of the dishonest steward.” You weren’t imagining it; you heard it right. Jesus described a guy – a financial manager for a wealthy individual –
- [Born  Again](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/born-again/) - You know what irritates the heck out of me? It’s what has happened to the phrase, “born again.” It’s been taken over by fundamentalists and evangelicals and turned into a code word for membership in a club. If someone wears the “born again Christian” label, they are automatically identified with a whole laundry list of
- [Altered Paths](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/altered-paths/) - I remember well a trip some years ago that Dadgie and I took back to Rochester, New York to visit with her family. While there we had an amazing day of journeying back in time. It was like diving into a deep pool of memory. We began by going back to the seminary from which
- [Table Manners](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/table-manners/) - When I was a boy, dinner time often resembled an extended lecture. “Mike, go wash your hands before you sit down. Mind your manners. Sit up straight and get your elbows off the table. Foot off the chair, please. Don’t chew with your mouth open, and don’t talk while you’re chewing your food. Pick that
- [Another Thing I Wish He Hadn’t Said](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/another-thing-i-wish-he-hadnt-said-2/) - From time to time I screw my courage to the sticking place and preach a sermon on one of those things I wish Jesus had never said. He said a lot of those kind of things. It reminds me of the story about Bob Zuppke who was the football coach at Illinois back when Knute
- [Leaning Into a Miracle](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/leaning-into-a-miracle/) - I remember once a parishioner gave me a sermon. We were standing in the church office and he said to me, “I just had an epiphany! I figured out what the miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand was. The miracle was the sharing. They only had a few loaves and fishes, and they all
- [Why Are We Here?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/why-are-we-here/) - I thought it might be a good time in the life of our church to ask a simple question: Why are we here? What is this building here for? What are these people doing here? If we are excited about making it possible for us to continue to be the church into the rest of
- [Pray Like This](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/pray-like-this/) - The Gospel reading for today is Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer, and it seems to me that it’s probably about time I had something to say about prayer. It is not an easy topic because it's not easily understood. None of us really knows how prayer works, or even what it means for prayer
- [Waiting for Tomatoes](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/waiting-for-tomatoes/) - Dadgie has always been the gardener at our house. Every year, she creates a beautiful garden array of flowers in our raised garden bed planter boxes on the deck. She used to start everything from seed in the late winter or early spring indoors under lights, but now she starts very few things from seed.
- [Extraordinary, Ordinary Miracles](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/extraordinary-ordinary-miracles/) - One of the classic old jokes is about the guy who went to his doctor and said, “Hey, Doc, it hurts when I do this (bending his elbow a few times).” The doctor answers, “So, don’t do that.” Something like that happened to me once. I spoke to my doctor about a spot on my
- [Are You In?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/are-you-in/) - For quite a while the poker game, Texas hold ‘em, was all the rage. I think it’s still popular on poker TV shows. I’ve never played it (I’m more of a seven card stud and five card draw man), but as I understand it the idea is to run your opponents out of the game
- [“No Longer Slave or Free . . .Male and Female” 	Reflections on Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/no-longer-slave-or-free-male-and-female-reflections-on-diversity-equality-and-inclusion/) - This is a sermon that has evolved. I had originally intended today to focus on same gender and transgender issues. But when I realized that Juneteenth was being celebrated this past Thursday I decided to expand this message and reflect on the issues behind what has been referred to as DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion).
- ["Sin Boldly!"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/sin-boldly/) - If you found this morning’s sermon title a little shocking, don’t worry, you’re not alone. People have been scandalized by the phrase “sin boldly” for the better part of five hundred years. It was advice first contained in a letter, written by none other than the father of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther. The letter
- [Drunk with Fire?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/drunk-with-fire/) - In 1785, Friedrich van Schiller wrote a poem titled Ode to Joy. Thirty-nine years later, Ludwig van Beethoven used the poem as the basis for the final movement of his last, and perhaps greatest symphony, the ninth. The music is familiar to almost everyone. The lyrics? Not so much. For one thing, it’s all in
- [The Power of Being](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-power-of-being/) - So, the Apostle Paul gets arrested for, well, essentially being a Jew in public. The real reason, I suppose, is that he ruined some guy’s livelihood and everybody’s fun by disabusing a slave girl of the idea that she had the power to tell fortunes. Anyway, he and his buddy Silas get beaten within an
- [What Do You Want?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/what-do-you-want/) - At a Kirkridge conference a number of years ago, I heard the late, great preacher and teacher, Fred Craddock, relate an experience he had once on an airplane (back in the days when they served meals to everyone on the flight). During boarding a man sat down next to Fred – sixty-ish, very well dressed,
- [Thou Shalt](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/thou-shalt/) - If you approached ten people at random walking down the street and asked them to tell you what it meant to be a good Christian, what do you think you’d hear? I’ll bet dollars to donuts that at least eight or nine of them would say things like: Good Christians don’t use swear words, they
- ["You Are Gods"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/you-are-gods/) - This morning I’m going to look with you into two passages of scripture that may surprise you. The first is this story of Peter raising the woman Tabitha from the dead. There are a couple of odd things about this tale to begin with. One is that when Peter arrives on the scene and assesses
- [Talk or Power?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/talk-or-power/) - I had an epiphany of sorts one morning. I happened to notice out the window an enormous crow come flapping down onto the garage roof. He probably measured twenty inches from beak to tail — it was an awesome sight. He was perched on the roof ridge with his back to me, black feathers glistening
- [On the Breath of Life and Grasping the Wind](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-breath-of-life-and-grasping-the-wind/) - Today I am offering some thoughts on the passage you heard from the Gospel of John in which Jesus breathes on the disciples and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” By now, it will not surprise any of you to learn that I understand this as metaphor. But it is not a simple one. This remarkable
- [The Unfinished Story](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-unfinished-story/) - You know what really gets me? It’s when a TV series ends the season with a “cliffhanger” episode, and you have to wait until late September or even October to find out what happened. Like the time on West Wing when the season ended with a bunch of shots fired on the President and his
- [An Idle Tale?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/an-idle-tale/) - One of my favorite stories (which I may have used before, but if so it bears repeating) comes from my seminary days at Colgate Rochester Divinity School in Rochester, New York. It’s the apocryphal account of Jesus’ resurrection appearance to a group of seminary students. He approaches them and asks, as he did of Simon
- [On the Road to Calvary: 	Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-road-to-calvary-jesus-the-way-the-truth-and-the-life/) - Here’s an idea: what if we put an ad in the paper inviting people to be part of Christ’s church – I mean, the way Jesus envisioned it? I can see it now: “Come join our movement. Here’s your chance to reject your parents, turn your back on your wife and children, hate life, and
- [On the Road to Calvary: 	Jesus Before Pilate](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-road-to-calvary-jesus-before-pilate/) - We are journeying with Jesus in this Lenten season to his cross on the hill. Today we consider his appearance before Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator, or governor of Judea, who tried Jesus and sentenced him to death on a cross. Pontius is simply a family name that goes all the way back to the
- [On the Road to Calvary: 	Judas, The Betrayer](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-road-to-calvary-judas-the-betrayer/) - As we continue with our Lenten Pulpit Series I find that one question has always nagged me about Judas: Why did he do it? Was he simply a bad apple from the outset, bent on doing evil? Was he an undercover operative of the Sanhedrin, planted among the disciples to bring down this rising star
- [On the Road to Calvary: 	 The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-road-to-calvary-the-disciple-whom-jesus-loved/) - There is a rather strange phrase in our reading from the gospel of John this morning. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’” That phrase “the disciple whom he loved” stands out. And we wonder: Didn’t he love
- [On the Road to Calvary: 	The Things That Make for Peace](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-road-to-calvary-the-things-that-make-for-peace/) - Today, I continue our Lenten Pulpit Series: On the Road to Calvary. And this morning we stop with Jesus at the gate to the holy city in the heart of Israel. These days, Israel is in the headlines. we're all aware of the deadlocked hostility between Israel and Palestine that is the touchstone for much
- [It's Tempting](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/its-tempting/) - So, Four members of the current Administration in Washington and a list of at least seven Hollywood stars have faced allegations of sexual misconduct. The thing is, I suspect that most of us, at least at some point or another in our lives, have done things we regret. We’re “tempted” not only by sex, but
- [Awesome!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/awesome/) - I confess that this morning’s gospel reading is not the sort of passage that I’m usually drawn to. But, as is often the case, when reading this one over again, something jumped up and bit me on the brain. It was this response by Jesus buried in the middle of the text: “You faithless and
- [Just a Reminder](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/just-a-reminder/) - After the great flood of Genesis, so the story goes, God struck a deal with Noah. Placing a rainbow in the sky, God promised that he would never again send a flood to destroy the earth, and whenever God looked at the rainbow – like a string tied around the divine finger – God would
- [A Cure for Heart Disease](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-cure-for-heart-disease/) - This past Wednesday was the birthday of perhaps the greatest of American Presidents, Abraham Lincoln. One hundred and sixty-four years ago, on February 11, 1861, Lincoln left Springfield, Illinois for Washington to be inaugurated as the 16th President of the United States. In his farewell address that day, he shared these words with his colleagues
- [A Holy Terror](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-holy-terror/) - First of all, let me assure you that this sermon, titled “A Holy Terror, is not about any of my grandchildren. Nor is it — the record of my own childhood notwithstanding — about myself. Today, I’m taking my cue from what happened to the prophet Isaiah and the disciple, Simon Peter, when the Divine
- [Running in Circles](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/running-in-circles/) - Have you ever said to someone, “Man, what a day; I feel like I’ve been running around in circles all day long!”? Have you ever stopped to consider what it means at an existential level to be running around in circles? It means you’re going over and over the same territory all the time, which
- [Body Parts](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/body-parts/) - I'm sure everyone is familiar with the old spiritual, “Dry Bones.” Well, anyone who has spent much time typing at a computer keyboard, or clicking a computer mouse button, knows the timeless truth that “the wrist-bone (as the old spiritual says) is connected to the arm-bone.” Sometimes, in fact, I can spend so much time
- ["Fearfully and Wonderfully Made"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/fearfully-and-wonderfully-made/) - You’ve probably all heard about the schoolboy who was doing his homework, writing a report about his own life history. At a loss for an appropriate introduction, he sought out his mother who was in the kitchen preparing supper. Without warning, he asked, “Mom, how was I born?” His mother, of course, knew that this
- [The Voice of the Lord Thunders](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-voice-of-the-lord-thunders/) - I have to confess to being stumped this week when I began to consider today’s sermon. I looked at all the scripture texts in the lectionary for this Sunday, and none of them seemed like they would “preach.” Particularly this Psalm: “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders
- [Epiphany](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/epiphany/) - How many times in recent memory have you heard someone say, “I had an epiphany the other day!”? The word in our culture has become synonymous with a bright idea, or a new thought. Etymologically, it’s actually come almost full circle from its origins. The original word was Greek, epiphaneia, meaning a disclosure or revelation.
- [Letting Go](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/letting-go/) - I almost chose to not preach from the lectionary this week. None of the scripture readings seemed to grab me. Until I took a second look at this passage from Luke’s gospel. And here’s what I read all over again for the first time: “And when he was twelve years old, they went up as
- [Poetry for Advent  	“a certain height”      On Love](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/poetry-for-advent-a-certain-height-on-love/) - During these Sundays we have been exploring the Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love reflecting on scriptural passages and poems that I have chosen for each. The last Advent candle on the wreath is the candle of Love. And today I want to look at Love in a way most of us may
- [Poetry for Advent  	“Let joy kill you!”      On Joy](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/poetry-for-advent-let-joy-kill-you-on-joy/) - It seems almost like trying to gild the lily to offer a sermon after the beautiful sky, the wonderful music, and the lighting of the Advent candle this morning. But I am, after all, a preacher, and you can’t put me in the pulpit without expecting to hear me prattle on about something. But, seriously,
- [Poetry for Advent  	“long pauses. . . .”    On Peace](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/poetry-for-advent-long-pauses-on-peace/) - Our headlines are full of destruction, death, and disaster. Turkish backed rebels have captured the cities of Aleppo and Hama in Syria and are now at the gates of Damascus; North Korean troops have joined the Russians in their ongoing assault on Ukraine; Israel continues to pound Gaza in retaliation for it’s invasion last year.
- [Poetry for Advent  	“To mingle with the Universe”    On Hope](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/poetry-for-advent-to-mingle-with-the-universe-on-hope/) - This morning I begin a four-part series for Advent in which I am bouncing off of not only scripture but poetry. I have chosen poems that I feel help us look more deeply into the traditional Advent themes of Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. For today I have chosen two poems (you’ll find them printed
- [It Ain't Just a Big Dinner](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/it-aint-just-a-big-dinner/) - I'd like everyone to open their red hymnals to number 18, "All People That on Earth Do Dwell." Keep the hymnal open in front of you as we proceed; you're going to need it. This simple, brief Psalm 100 that Jim read this morning may seem like rather lean gruel to feed an entire sermon,
- [The Be-Attitudes](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-be-attitudes/) - Today’s Gospel reading comprises the well known “beatitudes” from Jesus’ sermon on the mount. They’re called beatitudes because they are all regarded as statements of blessing (or “beatification,” if you will). Nine of the verses begin “Blessed are . . .” I’d like to offer a new rendition of the beatitudes – one that’s a
- [The Widow's Might!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-widows-might/) - You’ve probably heard enough sermons on this passage about the “widow’s mite” to choke a big, muddy pig. I’ve preached a ton of them too. They’re always stewardship sermons – sermons about how this poor woman who only had mite, gave it as an offering, and so we too should give sacrificially. Well, I’m not
- [Entropy, the Internet, and the Wisdom of Disobedient Love](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/entropy-the-internet-and-the-wisdom-of-disobedient-love/) - While everyone is anxious about what will happen on Tuesday (and for the next four years), I thought I’d extend our perspective this morning to the slightly longer view – say, about a billion, billion, billion, billion years. Cosmologists are divided on what will ultimately happen to our universe (in fact, they can’t even agree
- [Is Faith Enough?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/is-faith-enough/) - Five hundred and seven years ago this Thursday, the Augustinian friar and professor of theology at the University of Wittenberg, Germany, Martin Luther, composed a list of ninety-five points of dispute with the Roman Catholic Church. The historical tradition, although disputed by some, is that he posted his Ninety-five Theses on the door of All
- [“The Order of Melchizedek”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-order-of-melchizedek/) - I love puzzles. I used to do jigsaw puzzles -- the kind with 250 pieces in a box. Now Dadgie and I do 3D puzzles together. But the kind that really intrigue me are the ones that play tricks with your mind. I've always been able to get absolutely lost in solving a chess problem,
- [If You Have to Ask the Price, You Can't Afford It](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/if-you-have-to-ask-the-price-you-cant-afford-it/) - Jesus would never have made it as a church pastor. By any estimation his ministry was a public relations disaster. Church growth experts and media consultants agree on one simple rule for success: “Don't give people what they don't want.” But Jesus was apparently not as savvy as the sound-bite wizards and church growth gurus
- [Another Thing I Wish He Hadn't Said](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/another-thing-i-wish-he-hadnt-said/) - In last week’s sermon I dealt with some words of Jesus that I told you I wished he hadn’t said. The truth is, there are a number of things that I stumble upon emanating from the lips of Jesus that I can hardly believe are coming out of his mouth. I landed on another one
- [Prophets All](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/prophets-all/) - I feel compelled to offer a disclaimer at the outset. The plain truth is, I don’t like the message I am about to deliver today. This is a sermon being preached to the preacher, and it makes me uncomfortable. Jesus said a lot of things that I wish he hadn’t, and this is one of
- [Making Your Mark](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/making-your-mark/) - There may be some of you out there who don’t know that I’ve written a book. I say that some of you may not know about it, because I’ve certainly done my best to get the word out. I bring it up whenever I can. You see, I don’t want anyone to know about this,
- [Who Is Jesus, and Why Does It Matter?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/who-is-jesus-and-why-does-it-matter/) - Some of the traditional evangelistic approach lines from the old-time fundamentalists have made their way into American folk lore. Like, “Have you found Jesus?” I’ll never forget the time my father was asked that question while on a trip down south. A man approached him and said, “My brother, have you found Jesus?” My dad
- ["The Law of Liberty"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-law-of-liberty/) - A very curious phrase appeared in last week’s scripture reading from the book of James. It was in verse 25: “But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing.” It’s that phrase, “the
- [Remembering Ourselves](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/remembering-ourselves/) - Who are you? Have you ever stopped to ponder what it means when you say to someone, “I decided not to go”? Or what you’re talking about when you say you “changed your mind,” or “talked yourself out of something”? Who is this “you,” of which you speak? Do you know yourself? To what degree
- ["Serve the Lord"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/serve-the-lord/) - There are a lot of things in life that seem like they ought to be simple, but really aren’t. For starters, computers. It seems simple enough. Turn the thing on, do your work, then turn it off. But, no, you have to update your system with the latest antivirus definitions. So you connect to the
- [Wrestling](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/wrestling/) - My wrestling career was short-lived. In high school, I tried just about every sport there was; I was on the football team, I ran track, I was a gymnast. But wrestling lasted about as long as it took for some sweaty, smelly guy to get my head in a ferocious arm lock. That was it.
- ["Mostly, What We Need"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/mostly-what-we-need/) - There was a popular song some time ago that went like this: “Honesty is such a lonely word; Everyone is so untrue. Honesty is hardly ever heard, But, mostly, what I need from you.” Ain’t it the truth? Gerber claimed that their Good Start Gentle formula prevented children who took it from developing allergies. A
- [Hallelujah](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/hallelujah/) - Nearly eight years ago one of the true icons of modern music, the poet, singer, and song writer Leonard Cohen “slipped the surely bonds of earth" . . . and, as he put it, "stood before the Lord of Song." His song, Hallelujah, has always enchanted me, and I thought today I'd unpack it a
- ["Give Your Lunch to Jesus"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/give-your-lunch-to-jesus/) - I must confess, it’s been so many years that I can’t entirely remember from whom I first heard the line. I think it was the great Black preacher, Sandy Ray, holding forth at the Mordecai Johnson Institute of Religion, but I know it was over forty years ago. All I remember is the ringing sound
- [“Ally, Ally Outs in Free”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/ally-ally-outs-in-free/) - In Ottumwa, Iowa, about sixty-five years ago, on any warm summer night, somewhere in the vicinity of the 200 block of South Ward Street, you would have heard some kid yelling, “Ally, ally outs in free!” It meant that the person who was “it” had found somebody who was out hiding in the bushes and
- [That's What You Get for Dancing](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/thats-what-you-get-for-dancing/) - One of my first pastorates out of seminary was in a small rural community in upstate New York. I have changed quite a bit since those days, but one way in which I remain much the same person is that I have always loved to have fun. I tend to make light of a lot
- [On the "God Particle" and the Blessings of Angst](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-god-particle-and-the-blessings-of-angst/) - A few years ago scientists made a big discovery at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. They smashed a couple of protons into each other at near light speeds, and up popped the evidence of a hitherto unconfirmed subatomic particle. It’s a boson, which is just a fancy name for photons, and some other elusive
- [Free Indeed](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/free-indeed/) - It’s that time again – the Fourth of July week. So, this seems like a particularly meaningful time to be reflecting on the blessings of liberty. I want to look at Some of our cherished words as Americans, examine them under the spotlight of Biblical concepts of freedom and of justice, and talk about what
- [On Faith and Fear](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-faith-and-fear/) - I love those marvelous words of FDR spoken at the time our nation was in the Great Depression. It was 1933. The Depression worsened in the months preceding Roosevelt's inauguration on March 4. Many people have compared recent recessions with the Great Depression, but there really is no comparison. Factory closings, farm foreclosures, and bank
- [Fence Posts and Flowers](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/fence-posts-and-flowers/) - Dadgie and I have always had interesting nesting habits. Just about every time we’ve moved to a new place we’ve gone through this little ritual. She planted gardens and I built fences. The gardens are . . . well . . . self explanatory. The fences were often to keep the dog out of the
- [On the Merits of Being Out of Your Mind and The Curse of Theology](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/on-the-merits-of-being-out-of-your-mind-and-the-curse-of-theology/) - I preached a few Sundays ago about Kit Smart and the importance of being crazy enough to, as he wrote, "Hear the Hallelujah from the heart of God." I’d like to expand on that notion a bit this morning and talk about what it can really mean to go “out of your mind.” An absolutely
- [Complete Joy](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/complete-joy/) - I remember when, years ago, Dadgie and I took a picnic to Tanglewood. We sat on the lawn beneath a giant tree and listened to the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Tanglewood Chorus perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. I recall that it was a beautiful day, and I remember looking up at the sky through the
- [Baby Steps](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/baby-steps/) - I’d like to begin on this Memorial Day weekend by sharing with you a treasure from my computer files. It's excerpts from an email I received from my father many years ago before his death: “Nearly three quarters of a century ago,” he wrote, “my country needed me in its war and I spent
- [Is It True?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/is-it-true/) - Our scripture reading this morning relates a remarkable tale. The disciples were visited by a great windy noise, tongues of flame resting on their heads, and strange languages spoken that allowed all those who gathered around from every nation known on earth to hear and understand in their own language what was spoken. This event
- [A Roll of the Dice: 	On Grace, Providence, Luck, and Serendipity](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-roll-of-the-dice-on-grace-providence-luck-and-serendipity/) - One of the oldest and most perplexing questions in Christian theology is called “theodicy,” which means “vindication of God.” Classically stated, it is the vindication of divine goodness and providence in view of the existence of evil. In other words, is the Almighty responsible for everything that happens – and, if so, how come such
- [The Great Flabber Dabber](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-great-flabber-dabber/) - I’d like everyone to open up your bulletin and take a look at my sermon title. That’s right: “flabber dabber.” In fact, “flabber dabber, flabber dabber, flabber dabber.” Think my elevator finally stopped going to the top floor? Well, that’s exactly what they thought about the man who wrote those “flabber dabber” words. His name
- [" To a People Yet Unborn"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/to-a-people-yet-unborn/) - I’m sure many of you have heard things like this, but it’s good to be reminded from time to time. The college graduating class of 2024 shares the following characteristics: -They have no memory of the Bill Clinton presidency. -They have always lived during an age of AIDS, and were still in high school when
- ["In the Presence of My Enemies"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/in-the-presence-of-my-enemies/) - I’m not a big hockey fan. I’ve always thought that hockey seems like an excuse for grown men to get into fistfights. There’s the great old Rodney Dangerfield line: “I went to a fight the other night, and a hockey game broke out.” At any rate, the one thing that impresses me is the NHL
- [Room!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/room/) - There are many variations of an ancient Hindu story about what holds the world up. In my favorite version the novice comes to his master and asks what holds the world in place. The master says, “The world is held up by a giant elephant.” The novice thinks for a moment, then asks, “But what
- [Seeing Is Believing?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/seeing-is-believing/) - Remember the wonderful Doctor Seuss story, Horton Hears a Who? It was fun. But the basic theme really grabbed me. Horton the elephant heard a little sound coming from a tiny speck of dust or pollen or something that had settled on a flower. He was the only one who could hear the little sound
- [Don't Be Amazed](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/dont-be-amazed/) - “Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome . . . went to the tomb when the sun had risen . . . And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back . . . [and] they saw a young man...[who] said to them, ‘Do not be amazed . . . .’”
- [A Case of Mistaken Identity](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-case-of-mistaken-identity/) - When I was in high school one of my favorite subjects was math. I enjoyed doing math, and learning math, so I did fairly well in my mathematics courses. I’ll never forget the surprise I had one day to come home and discover that my parents had received a note from the principal’s office warning
- [All Glory, Laud, and Honor](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/all-glory-laud-and-honor/) - This morning I’d like to take some time to focus on the familiar Palm Sunday hymn, “All Glory, Laud and Honor.” It’s an old chestnut. Written about the year 820 AD, it’s been a Palm Sunday favorite for centuries. The words come from the pen of Theodulph of Orleans. Theodulph was born in Spain among
- [What Is Faithfulness?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/what-is-faithfulness/) - Today, we continue with a time of reflection and self-examination during this Lenten season. We begin with this rather weird passage from the Gospel of John – actually there’s a lot in the Gospel of John that’s pretty weird. According to this account, there were some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the festival
- [Mercy, Mercy Me](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/mercy-mercy-me/) - Let me say from the outset that this sermon, like every sermon I preach, is for me as much as for anyone else. You may recognize the title of today's sermon as the title of the wonderful Marvin Gaye song from the 1970's. “Mercy, Mercy Me” served as a soulful call for compassion, empathy, and
- [Turning the World Upside Down](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/turning-the-world-upside-down/) - I’ve often thought of doing a sermon about the movie “The Poseidon Adventure,” and when I saw that among this morning’s lectionary readings was the passage you heard from First Corinthians, I knew I had my chance. I don’t know if you’ve ever considered it, but that movie is a remarkable allegory of the gospel.
- [Why Is There Suffering?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/whay-is-there-suffering/) - Last week, I mentioned that this Lenten season is a time of self-examination and reflection. It’s a time for looking at some of the deeper and weightier issues of our lives and our faith. It is with tender care that I raise this morning's question: why is there suffering? I ask the question gently because
- [Of Water and Beasts: Reflections on a Timeless Covenant](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/of-water-and-beasts-reflections-on-a-timeless-covenant/) - A while back a bear invaded our deck and took down our bird-feeder. So, since then we only have the bird-feeder up in the winter while the bears are hibernating. Our house in the woods seems to be a magnet for creatures large and small. Lately we’ve been battling stink bugs. I have no idea
- [A Mountaintop Experience](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-mountaintop-experience/) - A few weeks ago, I mentioned in a sermon that I had entered seminary after a dramatic experience of calling into the ministry. I believe I may have told some of you the story of that experience, but I hope that those of you who have heard it will forgive me for telling it once
- ["All Things to All People"](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/all-things-to-all-people/) - The day after tomorrow will be the twenty first anniversary of my mother’s death. It has put me in a reflective mood and I want to take some time this morning to share a very treasured story and memory from the time of her dying. My wife, Dadgie, wasn’t able to go, so I flew
- [“The Arc of the Moral Universe”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-arc-of-the-moral-universe/) - First, a confession. My sermon title is stolen. But that’s OK, because the guy I filched it from stole it first. You may recognize it as part of the famous line by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (a line he used, by the way, in three different speeches and a sermon). Dr. King said, “The
- [Many Gates](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/many-gates/) - You may be wondering why we are reading three passages from today's lectionary and what in the world I see as a connection among these three passages. I think I’ll keep you guessing for a little while. I’d like to begin by taking each one of them in turn and unpacking them for you. We
- [Come and See](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/come-and-see/) - Across our land and around the planet in this hour a battle is raging. It is a struggle to claim the hearts and minds of the next generation – those who will plunge our world into the abyss of endless rivalry and global warfare, or lead us to the heights of unprecedented mutuality and human
- [From the Water](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/from-the-water/) - The opening words of the book of Genesis are awesome and powerfully poetic. I remember a seminary professor who began his Old Testament course by reading those words and then saying, “If that doesn’t stir your blood and send chills up your spine, then maybe you don’t belong here.” Those words are even more stirring
- [Surprised at Any Age](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/surprised-at-any-age/) - Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to Jerusalem to “present him to the Lord.” This was the ritual of purification for firstborn children. While there, they encountered two people, Simeon and Anna. We don’t hear a lot about either of them. Simeon is described as a righteous and devout man to whom
- [The Christmas Moon](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-christmas-moon/) - It’s Christmas night. The gifts are opened, the family members have departed, the wrapping paper is cleaned up, and a man strolls out of his back door onto the lawn, to consider the day gone by. For our reflection tonight, let’s just listen in on his inner conversation with himself: “It’s funny how the night
- [The Carols of Christmas: “Silent Night”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-carols-of-christmas-silent-night/) - In 1815, a newly ordained 23 year old priest was assigned to a parish in the remote mountain village of Mariapfarr, in the Austrian Alps. This young priest had come from an uncommon background. He was born to an unwed mother. In fact, he was her third illegitimate child. In the early nineteenth century that
- [The Carols of Christmas: “Angels, From the Realms of Glory”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-carols-of-christmas-angels-from-the-realms-of-glory/) - It’s the time of year to sing about angels, and angel choirs: “Angels We Have Heard on High,” “Hark! the Herald Angels Sing,” “while mortals sleep, the angels keep their watch of wondering love,” “The first noel, the angel did say,” “from angels bending near the earth,” and this one: “Angels From the Realms of
- [The Carols of Christmas: While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-carols-of-christmas-while-shepherds-watched-their-flocks/) - This morning I continue our Advent Pulpit Series on the Carols of Christmas. I’d like to begin, not with this morning’s Christmas carol, but with the disturbing words of the prophet Isaiah in our reading from the Old Testament this morning. The prophet wrote, “A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I
- [The Carols of Christmas: O Little Town of Bethlehem](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-carols-of-christmas-o-little-town-of-bethlehem/) - During these Sundays of Advent, I thought I’d take a look with you at some of our favorite old Christmas Carols. In the words we sing year after year, in the lives of those who wrote them, and in the stories of their creation, might there be some fresh word, some resurrected hope for those
- [The Parable of the Talents Revisited: Claiming Your Gifts](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-parable-of-the-talents-revisited-claiming-your-gifts/) - If the scripture reading from the Gospel of Matthew sounded familiar, let me explain. Last week I shunned the Gospel reading from Matthew to focus on the Psalm. So today I’m going to “break the rules” and backtrack to take up this reading from Matthew. It’s very familiar. I’ve lost track of how many times
- [A Heart of Wisdom](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-heart-of-wisdom/) - I want to focus on the psalm from today’s lectionary readings largely because it happens to be one my favorite passages of scripture in the whole Bible. It is so, in part because of the depth of wisdom and meaning it embodies, but also, frankly, because it is one of the most beautiful pieces of
- [Judgement](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/judgement/) - Dadgie and I used to watch Colombo. Those episodes were great. You always knew “whodunit” from the very beginning. The thrill was in seeing how the rumpled detective managed to figure it out, and seeing the perpetrator get his due at the end of the story. With a wrinkled forehead and the hint of a
- [The Communion of Saints](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-communion-of-saints/) - I have chosen to depart from the lectionary today because I wanted to say something particular to this communion Sunday, as well as a day on which we remember those who have gone before us, and coming just a few days after the three days on the Christian calendar that speak of "saints" (All Saints,
- [Truth or Consequences](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/truth-or-consequences/) - Most of you “old-timers” like me remember the old television game show, Truth or Consequences. With host, Bob Barker, the show was a combination trivia game and stunt show. Contestants were asked silly questions and had to answer correctly before “Beulah the Buzzer” sounded. If they failed to give the “Truth,” they had to face
- [Would Jesus be a Democrat or a Republican?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/would-jesus-be-a-democrat-or-a-republican/) - I hope no one has already bolted out the door after seeing my sermon title. I realize that, with the disarray in the House of Representatives and another potential government shut-down looming, we are all about eyeball deep in politics right now, and the last thing you want to hear from the pulpit is more
- [When the Shroud Is Removed](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/when-the-shroud-is-removed/) - There are days full of sunshine and hopefulness, and there are those times when everything seems clouded or even covered with a dark blanket. And if we are truly honest, both are present to a degree in every moment. We are never totally without hope, and we are never entirely free of the veil of
- [Words, Words, Words](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/words-words-words/) - True to form, this morning I plan to take personal exception to over a dozen centuries of biblical interpretation. I may sound a little flip about it, but in truth, I don’t go about this lightly. It’s simply that every so often, when I read scripture, something jumps out at me and takes hold of
- [Afraid of God?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/afraid-of-god/) - What if I asked if you were afraid of God? Any of you might laugh. But I should tell you that, to begin with, I'm a little afraid of even using the word "God." That's because it's been so abused over the centuries and so burdened down with mental images of an old man who
- [It's Not Fair!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/its-not-fair/) - I remember playing baseball as a boy. Typically, we would find ourselves in the field behind a friend's house with the sun out on a beautiful day for baseball and having a great time. Then the ball gets hit over the hedge. I, being who I am, of course would feel it necessary to clarify
- [Different Strokes](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/different-strokes/) - I watched an interview this week with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and I found myself secretly cheering, thinking how great it would be if someone put a bullet in Vladimir Putin's head so he would stop killing people indiscriminately with rockets and bombs. The fact that I was thinking about taking a life didn’t seem to
- [Three Desperate People Meet Jesus](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/three-desperate-people-meet-jesus/) - At first glance this passage in Matthew seems like three unrelated little stories stuck together. Simply because they happen on the same day. But look closer and you see three desperate people from different walks of life encounter Jesus. Each of them compromises him in regards to the purity laws needs but of them come
- [But Some Doubted](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/but-some-doubted/) - As I mentioned in the opening, this is “Trinity Sunday” in the lectionary calendar. It’s not high on the list of important Sundays in most people’s estimation. It was a doctrine that was argued vehemently in the second and third centuries, but it’s not a doctrine that most folks today get too excited about. I’m guessing
- [Confirmation Reflections](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/confirmation-reflections/) - So, we have a lot going on today, with Memorial Day, Pentecost and Confirmation. It’s not too hard to see a connection between, Confirmation and Pentecost, since the disciples were in some sense confirmed in their faith and calling at Pentecost. It is often called the birthday of the church. Three thousand Luke says were
- [A Community of Believers](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-community-of-believers/) - It has been suggested that Jesus’ prayer for the church in our John passage this morning is one of the preeminent prayers of Jesus that never gets fulfilled. –In fact one theologian has said that this prayer, which ends with “that they may be one as we are one” is likely to get the answer
- [What Is God Like?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/what-is-god-like/) - John alone gives us this summation of the extended talk Jesus had with his disciples on the night he is arrested. It is a farewell conversation. Jesus knows he is going to die, and he wants to prepare the disciples with instructions and reminders. It goes on for 4 chapters. So our scripture this morning
- [Not Orphans](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/not-orphans/) - Someone has said recently that if you are not anxious about the future, you are not paying attention to the news! -From our tensions with Russia and China, to lingering issues in the Middle East, and of course the prospects of Global Warming, -not to mention the uncertainty in the economy, whether inflation or recession.
- [Shepherding Images](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/shepherding-images/) - We read a portion of this passage from the gospel of John every year around the 4th Sun. after Easter. The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one everyone knows. To get John’s setting right we should note that this passage comes right after Jesus has healed a blind man –on the Sabbath.
- [Recognizing Christ](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/recognizing-christ/) - As Luke tells his version of the Resurrection, we have to remember that in his Easter story the women have reported the empty tomb, and Peter has gone to see the tomb opened but seen nothing else. There has been no Resurrection appearance. In fact, the apostles we are told, think the story of the
- [The Mystery Goes On](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-mystery-goes-on/) - Theologian and writer, Brian McLarens, commented a while back that, “We are just suckers if we let the reigning intellectual fashion decree that the resurrection is unbelievable. What is believable changes from generation to generation. In a universe that becomes more amazing with each new discovery, it is arrogant to declare the resurrection impossible. That
- [Seeing Through the Tears](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/seeing-through-the-tears/) - Being a minister is one of those positions where one sees a lot of tears: tears of grief, tears of joy, tears of anger, and tears of frustration and regret. It is a part of the privilege and responsibility of being a minister. Tears are a very human phenomenon. If you haven’t felt a tear
- [What a Week!](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/what-a-week/) - Palm Sunday represents a paradoxical turn of events in the story of Jesus. ---Here we are at this big parade -- Jesus is the Grand Marshall -- everyone is excited, but we know what is coming -And it isn’t pretty! -- All of the gospels build up to this dramatic and brutal last week in Jesus’
- [Lazarus](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/lazarus/) - So what do you make of this Lazarus story? –it is the most spectacular of all Jesus’ miracles recorded in the New Testament. I mean, a man dead four days, already buried and Jesus calls him back to life! People are expecting that his body has already started decaying! –What’s surprising is that the other
- [Blindness & Myopia](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/blindness-myopia/) - John likes to tell stories that are a little more involved. We’ve had two in a row now. Last week it was the Woman at the Well, and this week it’s the Man Born Blind. The central point in all of his stories is the affirmation of Jesus as the Word of God made flesh,
- [It's Not About the Water](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/its-not-about-the-water/) - In both these stories we know it’s not about the water -though water plays an important role in the biblical story. When Abraham sends a servant to find a wife for Isaac he finds her at a well. Jacob meets his wife at a well, and Moses meets his wife at a well. And, of
- [Which Came First - Faith or Grace?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/which-came-first-faith-or-grace/) - I have probably said before that I often find Paul’s theological arguments a little tedious. He is so tied to his first century Jewish and Roman world and his arguments are sometimes so arcane that he loses me. He is, of course, an intense and dedicated defender of the Christian faith. No one did more
- [The Garden of Temptation](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-garden-of-temptation/) - Lent is one of those times when we traditionally think about faith and faithfulness. We ask what does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? And wonder, “Have I been faithful to the way of God that Jesus espoused and lived?” The Lectionary always begins Lent with one of the gospels’ accounts of Jesus’
- [A Mountaintop Vision](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/a-mountaintop-vision/) - There are certain passages that the Lectionary calls for us to look at every year. Jesus’ birth, baptism, crucifixion and Resurrection are naturals, -but also this mysterious experience of Transfiguration that Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us about. John, you’ll note omits it. John has other ways of affirming who Jesus is. In John Jesus
- [Upholding the Law](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/upholding-the-law/) - Moses puts a stark choice before the people near the end of his life: Stay true to the faith he has taught them, and they, and their children and grandchildren will be blest. Fall away into a religion of their own creation worshiping the things they have made and following a path of least resistance,
- [Seeing the Light](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/seeing-the-light/) - Jesus uses these two metaphors in our Matthew passage today that have universal appeal and connection as imagery. Everyone gets their meaning. Light and salt play an integral part in humankind’s survival and advancement. For centuries some form of fire was the only source of light other than the sun and salt was the only
- [Blessed Beatitudes](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/blessed-beatitudes/) - The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew. Yet they remain an enigma to most of us. They go against the grain of common thought. Author, Kurt Vonnegut some time ago in an In these Times magazine article wrote: “For some reason”, he said, “the most vocal Christians among us never mention
- [United in Our Call](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/united-in-our-call/) - During the 60’s, with the Vietnam protests and its racial upheaval, with marches & riots and even students shot by the National Guard the United States seemed hopelessly divided. I had one Anti-Vietnam War church member spit on by another parishioner who was Pro-War, as he held a sign at the Memorial Day Parade down
- [What's in a Name?](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/whats-in-a-name/) - Rev. Michael Scott When I read this morning’s Gospel lesson from John, where Jesus renames Simon, I couldn’t help but remember a classic old Monty Python routine. It takes place at the “Bruces Club” in Australia. Every member is named Bruce. They all greet each other: “'Ow are you, Bruce? G’day Bruce! Bruce. Hello Bruce.
- [Baptized and Called](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-baptism-of-faith-and-call/) - As I mentioned last Sunday, Epiphany was this past Friday, January 6. It celebrates the Magi coming to visit the infant Jesus and is the Orthodox Christmas. Today we jump ahead in the story around 30 years as the adult Jesus comes to hear John the Baptist and is subsequently baptized by him. There just
- [Matthew's Magi](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/matthews-magi/) - This coming Friday is Epiphany, which celebrates the coming of the Magi, or Wise Men. It was a much later tradition that had them as kings. We usually put them together at the manger with the shepherds, but that’s not really how it is in the bible. Only Luke tells of the manger. Matthew indicates
- [God With Us](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/god-with-us/) - Fredrick Brown wrote one of those science fiction computer stories a number of years ago where a group of scientists create an electronic super brain. The first question they put to the computer is, “Is there a God?” the computer answers back: “There is now!” The bible, on the other hand, says simply, “In the
- [Good Ole' Joe](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/good-ole-joe/) - Some have suggested that Joseph gets short shrift in the Christmas story but that’s quite so true not so much in Matthew’s version. Where Luke puts all the emphasis on Mary, and most of the general focus in our Christmas pageants is on everything from Magi to shepherds and angels to even the Inn Keeper
- [John's Haunting Question](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/johns-haunting-question/) - So, here we are one more Sunday with John the focus of the lectionary. In part because his ministry is interlinked with that of Jesus. Jesus is baptized by John as most likely are some of his disciples. Certainly, several of them came to hear John preach before they followed Jesus. Even some of John’s
- [Big Bad John](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/big-bad-john/) - Big Bad John December 4, 2022 Isaiah 11:1-10 Matthew 3:1-12 Some of you remember, I’m sure the song, Big Bad John, by Jimmy Dean, yes, the same one who sells the sausage- it goes back to 1961 when I was in college. I won’t try and sing it but the opening words are:
- [“The Return”](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/the-return/) - “The Return” November 27, 2022 Isaiah 2:1-5 Matthew 24:36-44 It is quite clear the early church expected Jesus to return. Initially, at least, it seems they expected it to be in the first century. The delay caused both anxiety and longing, as well as a need to readdress the issue in their theology. -Luke’s story
- [Christ the King](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/915/) - Christ the King November 20, 2022 Luke 1:68-79 Luke 23: 26 – 46 Today is Christ the King Sunday – It is relatively new in the liturgical calendar. It was first instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925. He did so amidst the rising nationalism of the day to remind people and nations where
- [Stray Cats & God](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/stray-cats-god/) - I really chose the Second Thessalonians passage from the lectionary as a kind of teaser passage looking towards Advent. -Advent is that time when we prepare for Christmas by thinking again about the longing, and the expectation, of Christ’s return and God’s direct involvement in history. We get bits of that expectation leading up to
- [Predictions, Predictions ](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/predictions-predictions/) - Isaiah 65:17-25 Luke 21:5-19 Predicting the future is always a bit precarious. -Most of the TV analysists have a tough time predicting the election results -even with all their polling ahead of time. They were wrong as much as they were right even in this last election. Of course, it
- [Contemplatives in Action](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/example-sermon/) - Nam ullamcorper ac metus dignissim interdum. Sed gravida dolor vitae auctor finibus. Integer porttitor dolor non interdum consectetur. Aliquam erat volutpat. Proin vel felis tortor. Duis sagittis nisl erat. Suspendisse condimentum nisl lectus, non fringilla dui mollis facilisis. Sed ut neque bibendum, imperdiet magna tempus, elementum massa. Pellentesque id rhoncus arcu, sed dapibus urna.
- [Easter 2021](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/sermon-library/easter-2021/) - Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat

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## Image Library

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## Video Library

- [Join the Movement](https://baldwinvillecongochurch.org/video-library/join-the-movement/)
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