Worship

Proper 15, Year B     John 6:51-58   If you had a friend who went to a retreat, a revival, maybe even a house of worship and came back telling you that the speaker had said: “I am the living bread come down from heaven. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life” “my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.” “…whoever eats me will live because of me.” “Whoever eats this bread will live forever…” If your friend heard someone say all that, would you let them go back to that retreat, that revival, that house of worship? Would you go with them? Would you stay for coffee hour? No! Because gross, right? And yet it was Jesus himself who said:  “Very truly, I tell you,  unless you eat the flesh [...]

The Rev. Sarah Buteux                                                                                                                                        June 24, 2018 Proper 7 Year B Mark 4:35-41   You all know I’m kind of type A, right? Yeah, I don’t think I hide that very well. I mean, you have to be careful saying things like that because nobody is just one thing. I don’t want to be reduced to a label anymore then the next person.  But I looked on-line and read an article titled: “16 [...]

The Rev. Sarah Buteux June 17, 2018 Confirmation and Children’s Sunday Seeds of Faith 26He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” Mark 4: 26-29 Today’s parable of the seed growing secretly, is the shortest parable Jesus ever told. Which is good since this really needs to be the shortest sermon ever preached.  But it is also one of Jesus’ most confounding parables, precisely because it is so short. It seems so simple and [...]

 June 4, 2018 Mark 2:23-3:6 Proper 4, Year B  (Photo courtesy of Emery Roth II )   Look around you, First Churches. This is our sanctuary.  This is our holy space. This is where we come together to worship God. As you look around this space, what does it say to you about what we value? What does it says to you about what we regard as important, worthy… dare I say, even, holy? Music- look at that organ. That organ is not messing around. I think those pipes might be taller than my house.   Beauty -look at those stencils, all the beautiful gold leaf crosses way up there.  Art - look at these windows. Is there any light as warm as the glow that comes through that rose window, or any greens, blues and purples as [...]