Rev. Zach

Philippians 4:4-9 Several years ago a church I served in VA was getting ready for their annual Youth-led worship service. This was a church that shared the tradition of “passing the peace” when we shared communion, and the youth of that church always enjoyed adding it to their services as well. They really loved that physical demonstration of reconciliation and community. We would have done it every Sunday if it was up to them, and who could blame them? Actually, there was one guy. I’ll never forget the time a church member, in anticipation of Youth Sunday, said, “Are they going to make us touch each other?” I was kind of blown away. How dare he? Fortunately, I somehow had the presence of mind to ask him what he meant by that. He said, “I don’t mind shaking hands. I’m a friendly person [which was true]. I just don’t like it when I’m forced to do it.” Wow. There’s some interesting theology in that. No one likes to be forced or coerced into good acts and expressions of care, and yet th

Psalm 23 Matthew 5:14-16 “Let your light shine before others.” When we first started worshiping together online I received lots of comments about the ways in which we might be able to hold onto the things that make worship familiar and meaningful. One of those comments was about the candles. I had forgotten to light the candles, and it just distracted a few of you and made the environment feel less vital and more virtual. Some of those who were concerned couldn’t really say why it mattered so much. They just knew that it mattered. Maybe that’s because of the tradition of scripture that reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world and that the light entered the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it. Maybe the light of the candle reminds us of the presence of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost or the light of God’s presence in the temple in the Old Testament. Maybe it touches something primal in us to see the light of a candle, and it reminds us of hearth and home and hospitalit

Micah 6:6-8 Luke 10:25-37 Today is part 5 of a six week series on the “Great Ends of the Church.” Now, I’m guessing that some of you are thinking, “What are those and why should I care?” I’m pretty sure that was my reaction in seminary, and even now it seems kind of institutional and icky to say, “These are the great ends of the church. Memorize them so that you can sound really ‘churchy’ and good because that makes Jesus happy.” Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. The “Great Ends” are a celebration of who we are as God’s people, and they are a reminder of what God has called us to be a part of. None of these “ends,” or purposes, are complete by themselves, but none of them are optional, either. If we follow God as witnessed in scripture, this is who we are and what we do. It’s just that simple. So far we’ve talked about proclaiming the good news of salvation. If we are forgiven, sinners, then our lives proclaim salvation. We talked about providing shelter, nurture, a

  Psalm 25:1-7 John 18:28-38 This sermon begins with a Zoom Call with my mom in which she reads the scriptures and then we talk about some common phrases using the word “Truth”. As an example, I’ll ask for her reaction to the phrase, “truthfully speaking...” and she’ll say, “were you not speaking truthfully already?” It’s always a joy to talk with my mom, and if you go to our Youtube Channel there’s a bit more of our conversation about life and faith and public witness at any age. Hopefully, you got the idea from our conversation that we (meaning everyone, not just my mom and me) don’t always realize what our relationship with the truth is like until something calls it to our attention. Not everything needs to be said all the time to everyone, yet often we find ourselves more comfortable in half-truths and convenient justifications. That’s just the way the human psyche works sometimes. The question before us today is, “What does that have to do with us as followers of God?” Over t