Sermons

Hope Still Dwells

September 22, 2022 - 12:06pm

From Pastor Claude's sermon on September 18:

“Hope Still Dwells”
by Denise King

The glare of a summer sun shining through my windowpane brings warm thoughts to mind!

Remembering the times when days were long, playing in the street where no crime abides.

Where the grass is green, and the flowers grew. The old gather to share things that matter and the young fill the air with laughter and chatter.

Now these things are long in our past, war is present, hunger, and homelessness are vast.

Crime is in, families are torn, and the dreams of children are no longer born!

Where do we go from here when we see our young, our future, in despair?

Do we look away, having an empty place in our hearts and minds for those who are not in our care?

Or do we just pray and send money to a popular cause, letting our conscious be free and clear?

Where do we go from here when all we see is hopelessness in a world full of tragic circumstances with hatred and indifference to those that do not look and live like us?

We go back to the beginning where hope still dwells. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ brings that hope through the glare of the new summer Son (Jesus) to those who have not
hardened their hearts.

May we all take on the burden to bridge the gap with the love and care that we have in our hands and deep within our souls!

A Fired Up Jesus

March 10, 2014 - 2:49pm

The text from last week's Ash Wednesday sermon...

Suzanne Collins is the acclaimed author of the hit series "The Hunger Games" - which have recently been made into movies. The second movie came out just a few months ago, and the title is "Catching Fire." The basic premise is that there are twelve districts under the control of one Capital. The main character, Katniss, is commonly referred to as the "Girl on Fire." There's a stroke of genius in the parallels in imagery for the character. Katniss is known as the girl on fire because of several outfits she wears that appear to catch on fire. This image of the "girl on fire" plays a double role because of her ability to inspire rebellion and empower the people of the districts to rise up against the oppression of the Capital. Fire spreads. Catching fire.

Want to know more about poverty in the suburbs and addressing its causes?

January 31, 2012 - 9:29am

Here are some of the sources cited in Rev. Claire Marich's sermon on January 29th, 2012:

The PBS show featuring poverty in DuPage County
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec11/poverty_12-30.html

DuPage United website: http://dupageunited.org/

People's Resource Center website: http://www.peoplesrc.org/

Naming the Powers, Engaging the Powers, Unmasking the Powers, The Powers that Be, by Walter Wink

Talk to Rev. Greta, Rev. Jim, Rev. Claire, or Rev. John about how to get linked in through the church.

Sermon: "What's going on and where do we fit in"

August 14, 2011 - 8:30am

Remember sensitivity training. Every word and gesture had to be in the right now. Popular in the 70s

You couldn’t say, “What are you planning to do after supper?” or “Are you going home for Thanksgiving?” These were all forms of avoiding the moment in front of you. It was terrifying, because all the ways we’d each learned to manipulate interactions and take conversations onto our safe territory were stripped away, and we had to be honest and truthful not about our past but about what was going on right this minute, right now, not just in our own minds, but in the room.

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God, as known to us in Jesus Christ, welcomes all.

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