Rev. Zach

Blessing the Banners: Crown and Chi Rho Revelation 17:14; Romans 8:31-39 Friends, this is the third of four sermons on symbols of faith based on the new banners that were quilted for us by Sunne Brandmeyer. Although Sunne would rather her name not even be mentioned, the Apostle Paul says in 1 Timothy 5:18 that laborers should be paid for their wages. Since Sunne did all this for free, then her payment for me to say “thanks be to God for you.” Before I go any further, I want to remind you that the most important symbol in the room is you. The symbols on these banners are here to remind us of the truth we proclaim together, but when you leave this place, you become the representation of God’s love that someone else needs to see. If you don’t hear anything else, hear me now on that. Now, the symbols on our banners and the scriptures that inspired them were all shared and confirmed through the Worship committee, we also gave Sunne a lot of room for her creativity and the work of the Spirit...

Hebrews 6:16-20; Luke 4:17-19 Today is the second out of four sermons about the symbols on our banners and related scriptures and concepts. If you are new to our fellowship, these were recently created for the church by a member who lives part of the year in Colorado and has become part of our online congregation since the outbreak of COVID 19. I mentioned last week that the worship committee gave her some themes and asked her to let the Spirit guide her, which I believe she truly has done. Sunne chose some ancient symbols of the church that we often only see on our Chrismon Tree in Advent, so I wanted to take some time and make sure we understand these symbols as more than just a creative design. Of course, there is great value in any act of creativity – because we are created in the image of the Creator – but these symbols are here, in this place, to tell us about our relationship with God the Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. This week we have an anchor and a fish. You’re probably u...

John 1:29-34; Mathew 28:16-20 As we begin reflecting on these passages and their relationship with the symbols on our banners, I’d like you to indulge me in a little game we play at camp. I’m going to send Zoe out of the Sanctuary for a minute, and when she comes back she is going to show you how close we are in the Spirit by reading my mind. [Zoe leaves] In order to assure you that I have not told her about this beforehand, I want someone to point to something in the sanctuary that she can discover through the Spirit. [Item is selected, and Zoe is called for. I point to various items until I get to the one selected and she chooses it.] Thank you, Zoe! Now, normally we would keep playing until everyone figured out that I pointed to something black before the selected item. I know, it’s a bit of a spoiler, but the point of telling you how it works is that it changes the game. Now that you know the game, you can play it and you can include others in it! I wanted to start with the idea of...