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…
Tag: prayer
DO NOT BE DISMAL (PIETY POINTS)
Matthew 6:1-18 Nate Hosler “Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them;” A dialogue last week: Nate—I should buy a stole (clergy sash). Jenn—Why? Nate—For when I pray in front of people (at a vigil or protest). A standard approach to scripture is that Jesus said ____ but what…
O BETHLEHEM
Zephaniah 3:14-20, Isaiah 12:2-6, Philippians 4:4-7, Luke 3:7-18 Nathan Hosler Advent is a time of light and darkness, hope and exile and welcome. A baby will be welcomed that brings hope but under the occupation of the Roman Empire and soon the holy family will flee into exile. There is much talk about refugees these…
REFLECTIONS ON PARIS
Matthew 23:23-36 Jesse Winter When I was asked to preach today, Nate wanted me to talk about mass incarceration. Criminal justice reform is a major focus of my work in the Office of Public Witness, and over the past few months I have learned how complex that issue is. It involves everything from politics, money,…
Learning from Francis
Learning from Francis (Mark 9:30-37; James 3:13-4:3, 7-8) – Jennifer Hosler Who is the Greatest? First Reading: Skit on Mark 9:30-37 (paraphrase) [narrated, with 4 actors] Jesus is walking along a road with his disciples, traveling through the region of Galilee. Jesus has been doing ministry for a while and he knows what is going…
DUST AND ASHES
Psalm 90, Psalm 51, 2 Cor. 5:20-6:10 Jennifer Hosler Create in me a clean heart: we’ve been singing this song for several weeks now. I love it because it’s a beautiful, simple, Spirit-filled prayer—more than an ordinary praise song. The words of this song are actually taken from an ancient prayer of King David, from…
With Them in Their Suffering
Romans 12:9-21; Galatians 3:26-29; Matthew 6:5-18 Jennifer Hosler If you’ve been looking at the news lately, you’ve seen that our world is full of sorrow and suffering and violence. We look around the planet and see war in Gaza and rockets in Israel, we see festering problems in eastern Ukraine, violence against Christians and Yazidis…
Keep on Keeping On
My sermon title didn’t make it into the bulletin today, because it took me too long to collect my thoughts about this passage. For those of you who are curious…I’ve entitled it “Keep On Keeping On.” by Mandy North In 2010, Danny Bradfield of Long Beach, California preached a sermon based on this text in…
Washington City Church of the Brethren 