Category Archives: Uncategorized

Water Changes Everything

Luke 6:27-38 Water changes everything. This truth washed over me with the summer rainfall as Matt and I trekked ever upward, determined to reach the top of the mountain peaks that beckoned us. We had been working on a patch to hike the highest 46 mountain peaks in the Adirondacks – and time was of […]
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ABCUSA General Secretary Sends Letter to Attorney General

VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 6/16/18) — A letter has been sent to Jeff Sessions, in response to his remarks which cited Romans 13 as justification for practices such as separating children from their parents in immigration cases. After discussion with the Board of General Ministries at its meeting in Green Lake, Wis., June 13-15, Dr. Lee […]
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The Way of Peace

Psalm 118:1-5, 19-29 & Mark 11:1-11 The psalmist writes: “Out of my distress I called on The Lord; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.” What does it meant to be set in a broad space? Two years ago, during Lent, my friend and colleague Jennifer Zogg came to Essex and […]
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An Ash Wednesday Sermon on Dust, Football and an Epic Fail Conference

Joel 2:12-17 American Poet Langston Hughes writes: “Gather out of star-dust, Earth-dust, Cloud-dust, Storm-dust, And splinters of hail, One handful of dream-dust Not for sale.” Great things come from dust. Hughes reminds us of that with his words; the book of Genesis reminds us of that when it tells us that God fashioned humankind out […]
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Centering Prayer: November 2017

Every Saturday, 10 a.m., Helen Henry Fellowship Hall Join us for a time of prayer. Centering Prayer is a method of setting an intention to consent to God’s presence and action within. Briefly, it’s a method that allows one to “rest in God,” which, in turn, sparks an inner transformative process. Most would say that […]
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The Surprise of Resurrection

In her book Thirst, Mary Oliver writes a poem called “The Messenger” which reads: “My work is loving the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird – equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums. Here the clam deep in the speckled sand. Are my boots old? Is my coat torn? […]
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Modern Beatitudes

Matthew 5:1-12 Desperation. Jesus can see the desperation in the eyes of the crowd, their longing, their bleeding heart, their frantic need for transformation, so Jesus climbs up the mountainside with his group of newbie disciples and begins to teach.  The first words that tumble out of Jesus’ mouth are words of blessing, proclaiming these […]
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Delight

Luke 15:1-10 “Where is my coin?” The woman wonders. Perhaps it is only one coin, but it is a coin that she cherished and treasured. She thought that she had just left it on the table but when she went over to grab it wasn’t there. She freezes. “What?? Where is it?” She thinks. Immediately, […]
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Media Advisory: First Baptist Church to Host Talk on Sweatshops and Improving Conditions for Garment Workers

Essex, CT- The First Baptist Church in Essex, Connecticut, is hosting a community potluck and conversation on advancing dignity and justice for garment workers, led by Liana Foxvog of the International Labor Rights Forum. Childcare will be provided. 105 years after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York, abusive and unsafe conditions are plaguing […]
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Faith-Full

Luke 7:1-10 Amazed. Julian was amazed at people’s faithfulness and the depth of the commitment made by people who were confirmed at her church. (Confirmation being the process by which people in other denominations say, “Yes I am choosing to follow Jesus.”) The enormity of such a decision awed 12-year old Julian, who was herself […]
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