Preacher: Jenn Hosler Scripture: Isaiah 11:1-10, Romans 15:4-8a, 12-13 Date: December 4, 2022 Do you consider yourself a hopeful person? A glass half-full or a glass half-empty kind of person? Or, perhaps a third way, do you see a glass filled with possibilities? You say to yourself, I can work with the amount of water…
Tag: Jennifer Hosler
Leaning into Church Friendships, Leaning to Church Conflict
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Philippians 1:3-11; 2:2-4, 12-16; 4:1-7 Date: November 6, 2022 Could a spreadsheet help strengthen your friendships or even our relationships within the church? Maybe, according to an NPR article (Keane & Weiner, 2019). Here’s an excerpt: Vanessa Nuñez was craving close friendship. “I had a lot of surface-level relationships with different…
Boat People (Shaped by Stories)
Boat People (Shaped By Stories) – Jennifer Hosler Scripture: James 2 Telling stories can define and shape who we are and how we act. As a parent, I see how my child absorbs and is shaped by stories. We have read to him since birth, whether or not he could understand what we were saying….
But Have Not Love
“Heart of the World” by Mikhail Reva, Odessa Children’s Hospital
Odessa, Ukraine
Bright, Shining Wonder
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Luke 2:1-20 For those of us in the northern hemisphere, December is marked by short days and long nights. It is an adjustment for everyone, that first troubling transition out of daylight savings time when it just seems so very dark, so very early. I find those first few weeks quite…
With Us in Our Suffering
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scriptures (Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16) Take a moment and imagine with me. Imagine that someone visits your church for the first time. You are chatting with them after worship, getting to know them a little, and they share with you that they struggle with a serious anxiety disorder. You say, “Thank…
On Housewives, Women of Valor, and Immigrant Widowed Farmworkers
Image: “Mary and Baby Jesus” by Kathleen Peterson
A Way in the Wilderness
A Way in the Wilderness (2nd Sunday in Advent) Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scriptures: Isaiah 40:1-11; Mark 1:1-8 Throughout the four weeks of Advent, our lectionary scriptures are rife with images from the natural world. The image of wilderness is present in both of our biblical texts, Isaiah and Mark, so I decided to make today’s…
Easter in a Pandemic
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: John 20:1-18 It’s intense, the pressure of preaching an Easter sermon during a global pandemic.How can I have the right words to say,to point us to the divine solidarity of Jesus entering with us in our suffering,to the existential hope of Jesus triumphing over betrayal, torture, and death,to the future that…
Even the Prophet Doubted
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Isaiah 35: 1-10; Luke 1:46b-55; Matthew 11:2-11 Doubt, loss, pain, darkness… sounds like Christmas-time? Unlike our cultural displays of perpetual holiday cheer, our four weeks of Advent scriptures allow for a fuller gamut of Christmas-time emotions: pain, doubt, and loss come alongside themes of peace, hope, love, and joy. This 3rd…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 