A Highway in the Wilderness
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11 Last weekend, I got to go with my friend Emily to an AMAZING local quilting shop here in Virginia. Emily needed some supplies for several projects she’s working on for Christmas gifts, and I tagged along. I am not a quilter or a crafter at all, so I did…
Wholeness in Dark and Light
Preacher: Christie Dahlin Scripture: Luke 1:68-79 Blessed are you, the Most High God of Israel–for you have visited and redeemed your people.You have raised up a mighty savior for us of the house of David,as you promised through the mouths of your holy ones,the prophets of ancient times: salvation from our enemies and from the…
The Silver is Mine and the Gold is Mine
Preacher: Nate Hosler Scripture: Haggai 2:1-9, Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 When you read the tasting notes of high-quality (or perhaps pretentious) coffee or cheese, the taster will make observations that are often hard for the untrained person (like myself) to fully appreciate. Hints of this chocolate. Smokey. Fruity-forward. I grew up in a Bible-forward family. In…
Y’all’s Endurance
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Luke 21:5-19 This month, I have the privilege of working with a congregation here in Roanoke as they try to discern what’s next for their church. Like so many other congregations, they are getting smaller in number, even if not in resources or spiritual well-being. They have a really beautiful, big…
On Love Feast and Mutual Aid
Preacher: Rev. Nathan Hosler Scripture: Habakkuk 1:1-4 & 2:1-4, Luke 17:5-10 Habakkuk was a musician-prophet in Temple. The brief book and our passage start with a complaint. The prophet complains and laments the violence that surrounds him. This is violence from within and violence from others. The violence is direct—“from the Chaldeans”—and the systemic abuse…
Inward Transformation for the Resistance
Preacher: Jenn Hosler Scripture: Luke 18:9-14 Our tagline as a congregation is “Seeking justice, wholeness, and community through the gospel of Jesus.” We can unpack that a little. Justice – we want to work for social justice in our city, our country, and our world. Wholeness – this comes from the biblical word for peace,…
Persistence and Mystery
Preacher: Christie Dahlin Scripture: Luke 18:1-8 A couple years ago I was the pastor of a church in Boise, Idaho, just a mile away from the Idaho state capitol building. Local politics in Idaho are on the very conservative end of things. During the state legislative session I would gather with a multi-faith group every…
The Grateful Samaritan
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Luke 17:11-19 This summer, I started a weekly Sunday Dinner potluck. I’d wanted to do something like this for over a year – a standing, regular, weekly casual gathering of friends. I think the desire was born, in part, from not having a church community that I participated in regularly. And…
God’s Economy: Woe to the Rich and Blessed Are the Poor
Preacher: Jenn Hosler Scripture: Luke 16:19-31; 1 Timothy 6:6-19 The past few weeks, we spent a lot of money, and it feels strange. We bought new mattresses, replacing our 18-year-old mattress queen mattress and our unknown aged second-hand twin mattress with versions that would be kinder to our bodies and kind to our earth. We…
Acting in Hope
Preacher: Rev. Nate Hosler Scripture: Jeremiah 32:1-3,6-15; 1 Timothy 6:6-19 The prompt said that I was invited to speak on what I’m “passionate about.” But passion or excitement may be similar to the feeling of love. As folks sometimes say, love includes action and choice and is not always a warm and fuzzy feeling. Certainly,…
The Enoughness of God
Preacher: Julia BakerScripture: Luke 16:1-13 “You cannot serve God and wealth.” Metal hangers clank against each other. As do those words. It’s a Friday afternoon at Goodwill and I am here after a long hard day of work at the hospital. I rationally tell myself that I am here because I need a dress for…
I Want to Be That Pawpaw Tree
Preacher: Jenn Hosler Scripture: Psalm 1; Luke 14:25-33 How do we make space for joy and rest amidst injustice and seemingly endless crises, here in our country and in our city and across the world? The past 2 years, I have been wrestling with this. One particular memory is of Martin Luther King Jr. Day…
Dishonest Wealth
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Luke 15:1-10 I have had the privilege of a front row seat over the last year as my home congregation has worked to sell their building and dissolve as a congregation. I can’t quit telling stories about First Church because I am so fascinated and amazed at the grace they’re enacting…
Held in the Tapestry of God’s Peace
Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: Philippians 4:1-8 When I was 28 a relationship that marked most of my 20’s, with the man I thought I would marry, came to a very ugly and sad end. The morning after I woke, after having sobbed myself to sleep, and the verses we read in Philippians were with me.…
Interpreting the Present Time
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Luke 12:49-56 Since I left ministry, I have had an unquenchable thirst for DRAMA. When you’re a pastor, or at least when I was a pastor, people’s dramas – large and small – land in your lap day in and day out. I cannot resist the allure of a juicy storyline,…
God’s Reversal
Preacher: Lisa Ramish Scripture: Luke 12:32-40 Please pray with me. Loving God, we know you are here with us as we read your holy scripture and find ways to let it change our lives. May my words, as well as the way we hear them and respond, be a reflection of your wisdom and love.…
The Lord’s Prayer
Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: Luke 11:1-13 The Lord’s Prayer… At this moment, churches around the globe, in every language are praying this prayer. This beautiful prayer that I would guess has been spoken more than any collection of words in human history. A prayer that, for many of us, we didn’t even memorize consciously but…
Beyond “Are you a Martha or a Mary?”
Preacher: Lisa Ramish Scripture: Genesis 18:1-10a; Luke 10:38-42 Thank you so much for having me as your guest today. I am so grateful to be with you. Let us start with a prayer. Our Creator, Please bless my words and let them be a blessing to those listening. Guide our voices, thoughts and actions to…
And Who is My Neighbor?
Preacher: Rev. Nate Hosler Scripture: Deuteronomy 30:9-14, Colossians 1:1-14, Luke 10:25-37 In 2003, after a year and a half of volunteer service and feeling a call to ministry, I boarded a train to Chicago from Pennsylvania. I was headed to college and the school was in the center of the city. A ministry training program,…
A Spiritual Rubric for Living
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Galatians 5:1, 13-25 I had the chance to talk with my friend Mandy this week, who is the pastor at the Manassas Church of the Brethren right down the road. I’d heard a little about what’s going on at Manassas – actually, when I wrote on Substack a few weeks ago…
God, What Would You Have Us Know Today?
Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: Luke 8:26-39 The author Elizabeth Gilbert has a practice where she writes letters from God to herself writing at the top of the page — “What would you have me know today”?” I have done this practice over the last years, finding it especially helpful when the press of the world…
Transdimensional Liminal Space
Preacher: Rev. Jenn Hosler Scripture: Acts 1:1-11; Ephesians 1:15-23; Luke 24:44-53 A liminal space – an in-between, transition time. The Latin word ‘limen’ means “threshold.” Liminal spaces are spaces of possibility, uncertainty, uneasiness, and opportunity. When there is a break between the old and new, when the old is no longer valid or functioning and…
The Spirit of Delight
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Provers 8:1-4, 22-31 A long time ago, in the spring of 2020, a beloved congregant named Nancy included me on a poetry chain mail letter. I don’t really participate in chain letters, but I love poetry and I loved Nancy, who had been a steadfast supporter of me and my ministry,…
Greater Works- Spirit Fire
Preacher: Rev. Nate Hosler Scripture: John 14:8-17, 25-27; Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Today we mark Pentecost—the coming of the Comforter-Helper-Advocate—to the disciples. Having come in power, the Holy Spirit empowers and compels the disciples to go out and continue to the work of Jesus. Today we read our scripture passages and reflect. There will…
Stand, Receive my peace, hear the YES
Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture John 5: 1-9 & Acts 16:9-15 There is a type of essay called a braided essay. Where you weave three or more strands of story or reflection together — each strand might seem unrelated, or only loosely tied — but there is trust that through the weaving they will shimmer off…
Demonstration Plots
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: Revelation 21:1-6 A few years ago, I started working for Brethren Volunteer Service on a very specific project: to start new BVS intentional community houses. These would be places around the country, connected with local congregations, where volunteers would work in the community at volunteer projects, but also agree to spend…
Breakfast with Jesus
Preacher: Rev. Jenn Hosler Scripture: John 21:1-19 Our scripture today is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. I’ll talk more about how and why it is meaningful, but the short answer is because, in John 21, we have resurrected Jesus cooking breakfast. Who here regularly eats breakfast? (no judgment if you don’t) Who…
Peace Be With You
Preacher: Dana Cassell Scripture: John 20: 19-31 Last summer, I had the chance to travel to Alaska. My parents invited me to join them, my aunt and uncle and several other retired couples on an Alaskan cruise. They invited my sister, too, but she declined, so I got to bring my good friend Sharon along,…
Jesus: Drama Queen, True King
Preacher: Rev. Nate Hosler Scripture: Luke 19:28-40 Protests are often a bit of a parade—at times a party of defiance. Banners colorfully display and boldly pronounce a challenge, a rallying cry, a lament, a celebration. They may dramatically re-enact or process solemnly. At times they use religious themes or observances—our family has taken to calling…
The Anointed One
Preacher: Julia Baker Scripture: John 12: 1-8 I keep thinking of Mary walking among the stalls of the marketplace, a year’s worth of wages tucked under her garments. The weight of those coins. The weight of what she knows in the deepest place of her that she must do, her conviction with each step. I…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 
Hi WCCOB
Is there a link that I could listen to Pastor Chibuzo’s sermon on May 22. I was not able to attend via zoom
Hello Madonna, it all depends on staff capacity, whether the service was recorded (sometimes there are errors), and whether preachers provide a textual sermon. Sorry that that is not a precise answer but if we have it, it will be posted eventually.