Lord of the Sabbath
Lord of the Sabbath Mark 2:23-28 Sunday, June 2, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction: pleasing God or pleasing people. Which is harder? The passage this morning asks the question, is it easier to please God or to please people? I suppose it depends on the person, and someone considering the holiness of God might answer that pleasing God is harder, but this passage implies that it is people that can be harder to please. …
The Bible and the Trinity
The Bible and the Trinity Sunday May 26, 2024 Titus 2:11-14; Matthew 26: 36-46 Titus 2:13 …looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,… Introduction Pablo G. Pérez González, an astrophysicist writing in the English language version of El Pais, indicated that we should not exist. He wasn’t making some sort of moral condemnation of humanity, but making a point as a physicist. The Big Bang theory of the universe should…
Maidservants Sunday, May 12, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa 1 Samuel 2:1-10; Luke 1:35-38 The Seventh Sunday of Easter and Mother’s Day Introduction The Rev. Dr. Ashley Cleere, the Executive Director of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches, is taking leave of her work to respond to a call to ministry with the Center Church on the Green in New Haven, Connecticut, the oldest church in New Haven. The current building was constructed…
Far Above All Powers
Far Above All Powers Ephesians 1:15-23; Revelation 19:11-16 May 5, 20204 The Sixth Sunday of Easter at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Ephesians 1:20-21 “…which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.” …
Christ Our Passover 1 Corinthians 5:7-8; Exodus 12:1-8 April 21, 2024 The Fourth Sunday of Easter First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction-Passover starts this Tuesday Jesus died on Passover, and in the structure of how these holidays are determined sometimes they take place at the same time, and this year one starts long after the other is finished. Easter is behind us but Passover starts this Tuesday. Let’s take a look at some of the symbolism of this…
An Open Understanding
An Open Understanding 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Luke 24:45 Third Sunday of Easter April 14, 2024 First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction: Sheldon, come home There’s an old story about a lady from the East Coast of the United States, who traveled to the farthest reaches of Tibet and there came to a remote monastery. She inquired about having a conversation with the chief monk and was told to wait at the gate. This she did for some time…
Believing and Seeing
Believing and Seeing John 20:24-31; Romans 10:14-17 Sunday, April 7, 2024, The Second Sunday of Easter at the First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Introduction Today’s reflection is called “Believing and Seeing” and it notes that the order of faith and trust that our Lord Jesus prefers is the opposite of what is commonly done in the world, and what probably should be done in the world. There is, after all, a place for doubt in life. There’s a story…
The New Covenant
The New Covenant Resurrection Sunday March 31, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Jeremiah 31:31-34; John 6:44-45 Introduction: Citizenship, Marriage, Congregational Covenant important in Congregational Churches cf. the Mayflower Compact. A few years ago I visited several government websites to see, on a lark, how easy it would be to immigrate to and become a citizen of another country. Canada did not want me, though if I learned a trade they might change their minds. Switzerland…
Out of the House of Bondage
Out of the House of Bondage Hebrews 2:15; Exodus 20:1 Sunday, March 3, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa The anxiety I felt after a few months in Ohio. The Spirit-if you stay long enough, then you’ve come to the place where you will die. Many years ago, I moved to Ohio and lived there for a number of years. After about four years, roughly around 2023, I experience this strange sense of anxiety that I…
A Chariot of Fire
A Chariot of Fire Mark 9:1-9; 2 Kings 2:1-12 Transfiguration Sunday February 11, 2024 Introduction: Something rare Certain things are rare in Scripture and that makes it hard to see how it relates to following Christ today. For example, the experience of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is an experience that applies only to her. We can learn from her experience, but there will never be another Mary, the mother of Jesus. I read this about rare things in…
Purpose
Purpose Sunday, February 4, 2024, at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa Mark 1:38But He said to them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because for this purpose I have come forth.” Opening Remarks: A Joke about purpose I’d like to begin my remarks by mentioning a philosophical conversation between an employee of a company and his supervisor in which the employee waxes eloquently about the nature and purpose of time. He…
Authority in the Spiritual Realm
Mark 1:21-28; Deuteronomy 18:15-20 Sunday, January 28, 2024 at The First Congregational Church of Marshalltown, Iowa 4th Sunday after Epiphany Authority-who belongs on the church board “There will be a meeting of the Church Board immediately after the service,” announced the pastor. After the close of the service, the Church Board gathered at the back of the sanctuary for the announced meeting. But there was a stranger in their midst — a visitor who had never attended their church before. …