Isaiah 58:9b-14 [Watch sermon here.] Dream.Isaiah invites us to dream of the world God desires for us.Dreamily, Isaiah writes,God will guide you continually,and satisfy your needs in parched places,and make your bones strong. What do you think it meansthat God wants to make our bones strong? Here is a story that sheds light on that […]
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Luke 12:49-56 [Watch sermon here.] Dead. The towering pitch pines were dead.It surprised me as I ran through the pine barrensin the Myles Standish Forest in Massachusetts. I jogged slowly. Sand cushioned my feet as I moved;sand anchored the shrubby oaks and blueberries around me,which looked black. In this oasis, pitch pines rose high like […]
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Luke 12:32-40 [Watch sermon here.] Jesus preaches,“Make for yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a treasure in heaven that never runs out.No thief comes near there, and no moth destroys.” There is not an occasional break-in into our soul,but a serial robbery: a constant infiltration of voicesthat burglarizes our focus and besieges us with distractions. Jesus […]
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Luke 10:25-37 [Watch sermon here.] The story today seems so simple.Be empathetic.Pay attention to the human being in front of you. Why is this so hard? We run late, and we walk by everyone who is suffering.We do not know someone, and then we do not care. Why is it so hard for us to […]
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Check out this week’s sermon, co-preached by the Rev. Joy Perkett and the Rev. Ernesto Medina! Watch here: Let’s Go Deeper
Luke 9:51-62 [Watch sermon here.] Follow me.Jesus beckons to the strangers on the road. Someone responds,“I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests;I have nowhere to lay my head.” Another traveler says, “First let me go and bury my father.” Jesus responds, “Let […]
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Luke 8:26-39 [Watch the sermon here.] Jesus steps out of the boat onto the shoreline.A man approaches him wildly. Homeless and naked,this man lives in the local cemetery. Filled with demons,he shrieks, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus?” It’s a violent and feral welcome to a new land. Yet Jesus has compassion,softens himself, and […]
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Proverbs 8:1-10, 22-31 [watch sermon here] There’s an air of playfulness about Woman Wisdom.She relishes being in God’s presence, always.God delights in spending time with her.Woman Wisdom rejoices in the earth as mountains erupt into place,and seas splash the shorelines. She finds herself in the busiest parts of the city.She stands at the gate as […]
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Acts 2:1-21; watch the video here When the day of Pentecost arrived,they all met in one room. Like a movie,Pentecost is filled with fantastical activity:winds roar; flames dance;foreign words fly from people’s mouths. Yet, what wows me todayis that the group all met in one location. Another translation reads,When the day of Pentecost arrived,they were […]
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Acts 16:16-34; watch the sermon here — Dear God, Help us to be really present.To you. To each other.To your Word. Amen. There’s a freedom song that sings of Paul and Silas in prison. The freedom song is called “Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.”It was written for the Freedom Riders,black and white civil rights activists […]
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The First Baptist Church in Essex