Welcome to
First Churches of Northampton
We welcome all in joyful Christian community.
We listen for God's still-speaking voice.
We work together to make God's love and justice real.
Proud members of the UCC Open and Affirming Coalition and the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists
Recent Sermons
Our Sunday services are live-streamed!
Please join us on YouTube or FaceBook each Sunday at 10:00am.
A Most Decent Proposal: Jesus and the Woman at the Well
Rev. Sarah Buteux (picture by MRJN Photography courtesy of Unsplash)
John 4:4-42
Do we have any romantics here this morning? Any lovers of love, poetry, romantic comedies, tragedies, maybe even a little romantasy? Ah, wonderful! Me too. So just for fun - or maybe because Bridgerton Season 4 went down as fast and easy as one of Queen Charlotte’s Belgian bonbons and I want more! - let’s play a little game.
I’ll read out a quote and you call out the title, ok? And I’ve got hints to help, so don’t stress. I really want this to be fun. We’ll start off with some classics and then move farther afield:
“Parting is such sweet sorrow...."
March 8, 2026
Cruel to Be Kind?
Rev. Sarah Buteux
John 3:1-21
I’ve been struggling to love people lately. Not all people, mind you, just, you know, like, most people.
Alright, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Maybe I shouldn’t say most people. Actually, I think what I’m finding is that it’s becoming easier and easier to love the people who are easy for me to love and harder and harder to love the people who are hard for me to love.
Does that make sense? Any one else experiencing this lately? And there’s not a whole lot of middle ground anymore, is there? No.
And when I say “hard,” I mean...
March 1, 2026
No Ifs, Ands, or Buts
Rev. Sarah Buteux (photo by Drew Walker, Unsplash)
Matthew 4:1-11
Somewhere along the way I picked up a piece of wisdom that has served me well. I can’t remember who said this or where I read it, but someone once taught me that when you are juggling too many balls in the air the trick is to know which are rubber and which are glass.
I’ll let that sink in a moment.
When you are juggling too many balls in the air the trick is to know which are rubber and which are glass.
Having the wisdom to know what balls you can drop without causing irreparable damage is important.
Keeping your eye on the ball you can’t afford to let slip, is key....
February 22, 2026
Enough Already!
Rev. Sarah Buteux (photo by Cason Asher. Unsplash)
Isaiah 58:5-12 Mathew 5:13-17
(We had some technical difficulties this morning, but sound comes on at the 24 minute mark, and the sermon begins 36 minutes in.)
Viola White. Mary Wingfield. Mary Louise-Smith. Claudette Colvin.
Do any of these names ring a bell?
Each of these black women refused to give up her seat to white passengers on the Montgomery Bus line in Alabama, before Rosa Parks.
I don’t share this in any way as a slight...
February 8, 2026
What Can Wash Away My Sins
Rev. Sarah Buteux (photo by Bill Fairs Curtesy of Unsplash)
Isaiah 53:1-9 & John 1:29-42
I should really be a vegetarian. And let me tell you: if I had to kill my own food, I probably would be. Anyone else feel that way? I don’t know about you, but if I needed to slaughter my own meat, I have no doubt that I’d find a way to live on dairy, eggs, vegetables, and grains…. maybe the occasional fish. Maybe.
But there is no way I’m offing a chicken or a pig or a cow with my own two hands, and certainly not a lamb. Have you ever held a lamb? Spent time with a lamb? Seen one at the farm or the petting zoo or at a Christmas pageant with a little diaper on so it doesn’t ruin the carpet?
I don’t think I could kill a lamb if my life depended on it.
Now again, I’m not saying ....
February 1, 2026
Fire and Water
Rev. Sarah Buteux (Photo by Marcos Paulo Prado, from Unsplash)
Isaiah 42:1-19 & Matthew 3:13-17
Here is this morning's sermon. I also commend the words of welcome to you, if you are struggling to handle all that is happening in our country right now. There is still some echo, but it's getting better. We'll keep working on it.
(Sarah pours water from the pitcher into the baptismal bowl in the font.)
“This is the water of baptism.
(Lifting it up she says:)
Out of this water we rise with new life,
Forgiven of sin and one in Christ,
Members of Christ’s body.”
(Bringing it back down she says:)
And yet this water is just ordinary water.
It came out of the tap in the kitchen.....
January 11, 2026
Enough for Now
Rev. Sarah Buteux
Matthew 2:1-23
Our livestream audio is still echoing. Please know we're working to address the issue. In the mean time, you can read the text of this morning's sermon here and use this link to generate a star word https://www.trcnyc.org/starwords/
What if I told you were already enough?
Good enough. Smart enough. Healthy enough.
Just, you know, enough.
So much so that you don’t have to resolve to be anything other than who you already are?
What if I told you that all the rushing around trying to perfect your life - especially at this time of year - is actually a massive distraction from what God has already equipped you to do?
What if I told you that all the pressure to improve yourself right now is actually a deep denial of who God has already created you to be?
Would you believe me...
January 4, 2026
Arise and Shine
Rev. Sarah Buteux
Isaiah 9:2
(Note: The audio on the recorded service has a pronounced echo which didn't hurt the music but makes it hard to hear the speakers. We'll see if we have back up audio this week. For now, here is the text of the sermon from Christmas Eve).
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness—on them light has shined. ~ Isaiah 9:2
I suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. When the time change hits and we lose that hour in November, my spirits sink like a stone. And one of the ways I manage the storm is by getting ready for Christmas.
I find that Advent helps a lot because
We’re allowed to be sad and acknowledge the dark and
b. We’re supposed to light candles and (in my house at least) put up a gazillion little white lights.
And you can’t put up Christmas lights without Christmas music playing in the background. So I do. (Sometimes, if it’s a particularly hard year, I even do it before Thanksgiving. This year I probably could have started in September).
Anyway, music helps set the mood...
December 24, 2025
It's Alright. It's Just a Mess
Rev. Sarah Buteux
Isaiah 61:1-2 & Matthew 11:2-11
Does anyone here read the U.C.C. Daily Devotionals that come via email? Well, then, you might have seen the one this past week where Molly Baskette tells of a family tradition gone awry. Every year, she and her daughter cut down a Christmas tree together, stuff it in the car, and then toast their lumberjack skills with homemade cocoa on the tailgate. But “one year,” as Molly tells it:
we went on a hike beforehand and came back to a smashed car window, a stolen electric saw, and a spectacular amount of broken glass all over the car seats. (Nevertheless,) We drove to the tree farm and met my sister and her 4-year-old. We wrestled the 6-inches-too-long tree into the car amidst the sparkling glass, and toasted our mixed morning.
Then the 4-year-old splattered a tsunami of cocoa all over himself, the tree, the glass, and the ground. He looked down. He looked up. He looked at us… and said loudly: “It’s all right. It’s just a mess.”
“It’s alright. It’s just a mess.”
O man, that hit me hard, because ...
December 14, 2025
Ready and Waiting
Rev. Sarah Buteux (photo by Kelly Sikkema)
Isaiah 2:1-5 & Matthew 24:36-44
“Be careful that the life you are building in the present
aligns with the dream you have for the future" ~ Audre Lorde
“What do you want for Christmas?”
People close to me are already asking and, well, I don’t mean to sound like a Scrooge or the Grinch, but that is my least favorite question at this time of year.
“What do you want for Christmas?”
It’s my least favorite question because the truth is, I don’t know.
I have no good answers because....
November 30, 2025
