Preacher: Nate Hosler Scripture: Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7, Psalm 32, Matthew 4:1-11 Date: February 26, 2023 God put them in the garden of Eden to “till and to keep it.” The Biblical witness is one in which good work and responsibility is given as a blessing—part of what it means to be human. This work comes…
Tag: Lent
Fifth Sunday
Preacher: Nate Hosler Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:20-33, Hebrews 5:5-10 In the 4th century at a time when the church began to align with the empire, certain people began withdrawing from the world to secluded places—often the desert. Monastic communities were formed around orders of strict discipline to foster greater focus on God (Encyclopedia of…
Artist of Souls
Preacher: Jessie Houff Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17 and John 2:13-22 As I was preparing the worship earlier this week, I was looking for opening prayers. I found one that began with addressing God as, “Artist of Souls”. It was the one I opened our service with today. There are countless names for God that we’ve heard…
TAKEN FOR GRANTED
Preacher: Jeff Davidson Scripture: Genesis 9:8-17, Mark 1:9-15, 1 Peter 3:18-22 It’s amazing what we take for granted. Julia and I have lived within a half hour of Washington DC for over 25 years. I love theater and musical performance. Before the pandemic, the Kennedy Center offered some sort of free musical or theatrical performance…
COME TO THE LIGHT
Numbers 21:4-9 Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21 Jeff Davidson The comedian Norm MacDonald has a shaggy dog story that he sometimes tells. I’m going to do a very, very shortened version of it here. A moth visits a podiatrist’s office. The podiatrist says, “What can I do for you today?” The moth says, “Doc, my life…
NO CROSS, NO CROWN
Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16; Romans 4:13-25, Mark 8:31-38 Micah Bales When I first read through the scripture readings for this Sunday, it wasn’t immediately clear to me how our gospel reading relates to the passage from Genesis. The story of Abraham and Sarah seems to be all about God bestowing unconditional blessing and abundance on…
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….
LIFE – A RATTLING
John 11:1-45, Ezekiel 37:1-14, Romans 8:6-11, Psalm 130 Nathan Hosler When I have read, or heard this passage from Ezekiel (the dry bones) I think I have typically envisioned of something like Halloween. It’s not that I have much experience in this subject—my family lived far from town with a driveway as long as two…
CIRCLES OF LIGHT
John 9:1-41, Ephesians 5:8-14 Jeff Davidson When I started working on this sermon I ran across this reflection from Dr. Rachael Keefe on her blog “Write Out of Left Field.” (https://rachaelkeefe.wordpress.com/) She’s writing in part about our gospel reading from John, and she says, “As for myself, I have been the recipient of social judgments….
What is the Spirit of Life?
Romans 4:1-5, 13-17, John 3:1-17 Micah Bales Throughout his ministry, Jesus speaks of a mystery that can only be described in parables and metaphor. We heard a lot of these last month as we went through the Sermon on the Mount together. Jesus tells us that we are the salt of the earth. We’re the…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 