Right Hands, Chairs, and Footstools – Jennifer Hosler Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 This Sunday marks the Ascension of Christ. The Ascension is sort of like the stereotypical middle child in this part of the church calendar. As a middle child, the Ascension doesn’t quite get the same amount of attention as its older…
Category: sermon
With Glad and Generous Hearts
With Glad and Generous Hearts – Jennifer Hosler Acts 2:42-47; Colossians 3:12-17 Our news media has the unfortunate tendency of focusing on things that go wrong. Violence, crime, oppression—these things sell papers or bring hits to websites. While these problems exist, focusing on them in the news media means that other stories do not often…
Victor, King, Servant?
Victor, King, Servant? – Jennifer Hosler Psalm 118: 1-2, 19-29; Matthew 21:1-11 Today is Palm Sunday, as we have already seen and heard and waved our palm branches. Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, is the name that the church has given to mark the events in Scripture which are referred to as the Triumphal…
Who is That Shiny Person?
Who is That Shiny Person? – Jennifer Hosler Exodus 24:12-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 When thinking about today’s gospel passage, I spent time musing on surprise encounters: those times when you run into someone you know, in a place where you least expect them to be. Running into someone you know is delightful in…
Waiting for the Bulb to Flower
Waiting for the Bulb to Flower Jennifer Hosler Deut. 30:15-20; Ps. 119: 1-8; 1 Cor. 3:1-9 Last Sunday was a big step for us as a congregation. While we had made the decision to proceed with the new ministry model at the end of July, this was, finally, its official implementation. As we all know,…
RESOLVING TO LOVE, TO HOPE, TO SEEK GOD IN 2014
Resolving to Love, to Hope, to Seek God in 2014 – Jennifer Hosler (Ecclesiastes 3:1-13; Matthew 25:31-46) It’s that time of year—time for New Year’s Resolutions. Many websites have had resolution articles (what to make, how to keep them) for the last week. The day after New Years, I was on the Washington Post website…
”GOD’S KINGDOM IS HERE” OR ”ALREADY AND NOT YET”
“God’s Kingdom is Here” or “Already and Not Yet” – Jennifer Hosler Isaiah 9:2-7; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14 (15-20) This week the world is celebrating the remarkable life and work of Nelson Mandela, who died on Thursday. In South Africa, he led the way for forgiveness to triumph over revenge, for choosing the path of…
Root-Bound
Root-Bound (Joel 2:23-32; Luke 18:9-14) Jennifer Hosler Very rarely do we hear news stories about genuine repentance. We often hear PR statements, statements regretting the fallout of actions, words that express regret for the pain caused – but often not apology and claim to wrong action. We might hear “I’m sorry that my words…
Life that is Really Life
Nathan Hosler – “Life that Really is Life” (1 Timothy 6:6-19) Our passage begins with “of course.” For whatever reason, our lectionary passage starts in the middle of an argument. It is as if we are walking through a school and enter a room in which someone is teaching. The teacher looks up, just briefly…
Sheep, Pennies, and People of Disrepute
Sheep, Pennies, and People of Disrepute (Luke 15) Jennifer Hosler Some of you might know that there exists a satirical newspaper called The Onion. Like all satire, it uses irony, sarcasm, and twists on current events to shed light on everyday absurdities, politicians’ shortcomings, or to make us think about human situations that we…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 