Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Luke 12:49-56 At Washington City Church of the Brethren, we understand the ministry of peacemaking as an important, integral part of Jesus’ gospel. The teaching and actions of Jesus speak in Scripture to God’s peace and reconciliation: they lift up the poor and marginalized, they call for love of enemies, and…
Tag: Jennifer Hosler
Oddities of the Holy Spirit
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Acts 16:9-15; John 14:23-29 At times, I am reminded that following Jesus is a bit strange. I’m trained in scientific methods as a community psychologist and I’m working to develop specific hypotheses for my dissertation. My research will be descriptive – describing what exists in the world – but it will…
(Embodying Hope) A baby, a girl, a body
Preacher: Jennifer Hosler Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-17, Luke 1:36-38, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, 1 Timothy 4:12 You probably recognize our texts in Isaiah and Luke as scriptures we read in Advent, but they are also from a church feast day held on March 25th, called the Feast of the Annunciation. Hands up if you typically celebrate the…
EVERYONE, COME TO THE FASTING PARTY!
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17, Mark 1:9-15, Luke 18:9-14 Jennifer Hosler A Plant Geek Last week, I was talking with someone about the plants I have in my garden. I mentioned the different herbs that I grow and how my bay leaf tree has survived several years, even though it is not technically zoned for our city….
JESUS, MEAT, AND VEGGIES
Deut. 18:15-20; Mark 1:21-28; 1 Cor. 8:1-13 Jennifer Hosler How do we show love? Sometimes, it’s by holding back on the meat. Across the US, traditionally, meat and potatoes or meat and some other starch, are ubiquitous on the table. Many of our folks in this congregation come from places like Missouri or central Pennsylvania—traditionally…
TANGIBLE FAITH (OIL, SONG, AND PRAYER)
James 5:13-20; John 9:1-12 Jennifer Hosler This is the tenth and final sermon in our sermon series on the book of James. Since it is Thanksgiving weekend, it would be rather appropriate to start my sermon with some gratitude. I’m thankful for many things but one which came to mind is my fantastic and caring…
What Defines Us?
Matt 5:1-20; Psalm 1; 1 Cor 1:18-31 Jennifer Hosler On Friday (1/20), we had about 100 people in our fellowship hall as I co-led a training on being an active bystander. You may have heard that incidents of harassment have increased over the past two months: more people are being targeted because of their…
Strange Fruit
Amos 8; 1 Timothy 2:1-7 Jennifer Hosler (sermon adapted from Brethren Press curriculum written by the author, 2015) Next Saturday, our city and country will celebrate the opening of the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture (NMAAHC). It’s been more than 100 years in the making—first lobbied for by African-American veterans of the…
Love is the Qualification
Jeremiah 1:4-10; 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Jennifer Hosler Have you ever felt like a fraud? Like you were inadequate and that it was only a matter of time before people found out that you really weren’t qualified? These feelings are apparently very common for people in graduate school. Lingering in many students’ minds are thoughts like,…
SERVANT, PRIEST, AND KING
Isaiah 53:4-12; Hebrews 5:1-10; Mark 10:35-45 Jennifer Hosler My paternal grandfather (my dad’s dad) was really interested in genealogy. I never asked exactly where this interest came from but through it, I learned some random historical facts about my dad’s side. Little nuggets of info such as, I apparently have a Quaker ancestor from somewhere…
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