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Matthew 5:43-48, Matthew 5:38-42

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Victor Hugo begins Les Miserables with the story of Jean Valjean. He is an ex-convict who has just been released from nineteen years in prison for stealing bread to feed his sister's children. As he reenters society, no one will house him or give him work because of his criminal record - that is until he stumbles into the bishop's house. Much to Valjean's bewilderment, the bishop treats him with k...

27. The Power of Positive Dreaming

Matthew 1:18-25

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

According to tradition, Joseph was the strong, silent type - an older carpenter who willingly submitted to impotent fatherhood - a second-string player in the drama of God's human birth. But according to scripture, none of this is true. All that is actually recorded in the Bible is that Joseph was a dreamer - a righteous man who transformed the meaning of righteousness by taking seriously his drea...

28. The Rest of the Story

Matthew 2:19-23, Matthew 2:13-18

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Just a few days later, the needles are falling, the poinsettias are drooping, and the cookies are stale. How do we hold onto the feeling? How do we hold onto the warmth, the wonder, the welcome of Christmas? Christmas letters - offering graceful glimpses of old friends; That rare mother/daughter afternoon, creating the most perfect Christmas of our lives; American soldiers sharing Christmas with ...

29. The Three Bs

Luke 3:1-22, Psalm 29

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Barbara Brown Taylor tells a story about her grandmother Lucy. Lucy would often get strange looks from others. She had lost both her legs to diabetes and had wooden stumps where limbs should be. Her weak eyes demanded that she wear dark glasses and most of the time she dressed like a bomber pilot. But to her granddaughters, Lucy was wonderful. Whenever Barbara would visit her grandmother, grace wo...

30. Trusting Authority

Luke 7:1-10

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

I want to tell you three stories about three men who wrestled with the authority of Jesus. And none of them met Jesus until they had first achieved phenomenal success in the secular world. Story One Sam showed up in worship after he married Cheryl, a lifelong member of the congregation. He had been raised as a secular Jew, and when I met him he was a curious agnostic — eager to argue and debate ...

31. Trusting the Other Side

Luke 5:1-11

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Since her death, Maya Angelou has been greatly celebrated around the world and that is an appropriate response in my mind. Maya was a poet, a prophet, a celebrity, and a grand dame. She was also a lifelong follower of Jesus. Raised in Stamps, Arkansas, by her grandmother, Maya spent much of her childhood within the warm embrace of a small African Methodist Episcopal Church — at least six hours eac...

32. Visions and Voices

Matthew 17:1-9

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

I don't know about you, but I envy Moses and Peter and James and John. I envy Joseph and Mary and Abraham and Sarah and Paul and Jacob - all the biblical folk who see visions and dream dreams and are swept into the palpable presence of God. And I particularly envy the many parishioners I have known over the years who have shared their holy experiences with me. Jeanne Grimm's blinding moment of lig...

33. Vital Vulnerability

Luke 2:8-20, Luke 2:1-7

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

At the risk of putting you to sleep, I’d like to ask each one of you to close your eyes. Right now, for just a minute. Please close your eyes. And now imagine with me. Imagine that you are holding a newborn baby. Imagine how this baby feels — skin touching skin, curves touching curves — harmonious heartbeats as life surges between you. Imagine the smell — the earthy sweetness of breath and body pe...

34. Wilderness Work

Luke 3:1-6

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life. I was sixteen, and it was my first game as the captain of the varsity cheerleading squad. Much to the dismay of the popular girls in the school, my loud voice had won me this hotly contested honor. The squad had been practicing all summer and we had our routines almost perfected. That early September night we were very excited and more than a...

35. Worry and Wonder

Matthew 6:24-34

Sermon

Susan R. Andrews

Well, the orange alert has finally been lowered to yellow. The purported organizer of the 9/11 attacks is now under arrest. And this week, rather than protecting us from biological or chemical poison, it seems that duct tape is being promoted as the perfect cure for warts! Perhaps, just a bit of our terror has subsided. And yet unsettling news is still around us. Tens of thousands of our troops a...

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