Rev. Zach

Exodus 16:1-18; John 6:47-51 Last week we talked about the way God self-identified to Moses as the one who shall be as they shall be. We were encouraged to know that God hears us in our suffering and God acts with compassion – even though we may not always see it. More than that, God has given us one another to celebrate our joys and encourage one another in hardship, and we can give thanks to God for that, Amen? It may seem like we’ve left some of the story out for those who are familiar with the story of the exodus of the people of God, and truly we have. I encourage you to go back and read the rest to see how it might speak to you through the Holy Spirit. As for our time together today, we have joined the Israelites in the wilderness. You might note that the text calls it the “Wilderness of Sin,” but it just so happens it was named for a geographical region rather than a theological statement. It might even be considered both, but I don’t think it was intentional except through the ...

Exodus 2:23-25; 3:1-15; 4:10-17 [The scripture reading is followed by a skit called “Here I Am, Send Claude” from The Next Voice You Hear – Sermons We Preach Together by David Steel.] “Here I am, send me.” I wanted to start from that point because those words are quite triggering to Presbyterians. Yes, and I’m going to make it worse by acknowledging the Hymn “Here I Am, Lord.” If you did not grow up in our tradition you are probably thinking, “So what?” If you did, you probably won’t hear a word I say, because you are already mentally composing a very angry email about why we did not sing that song today! If you’ll bear with me for a few, hopefully, it will all make sense, even though there are some plot holes with this skit that are not limited to the songs that we will sing together today. What I want to lift up about this skit is that it calls us to be part of the solution. Problems are easy to see, especially if we compare ourselves with the church down the street, or even next do...

John 15:1-8; Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13 Today is the last day of a 4 week series on our banners, and we are focusing on the symbols of the Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and the Vine with its fruit. Incidentally, some of you may recall that I often pray before preaching that my words either bear good fruit or be struck from your ears that only things pleasing to God come from this place. I started doing that as kind of a disclaimer a while back because I know that some people listen to me as a person with authority – or at least someone who has the responsibility of faithful interpretation of scripture – and I wanted to be clear about the fact that I am, at best, a person making a faithful attempt to connect God’s word with our lives. At my worst, I’m a person who is limited by my own needs and desires, and so my hope is always that something of God still shines through. That is, after all, the meaning of revelation – something of God is revealed in...

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...

Jeremiah 29: 1,4-14; 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 You may have noticed in the prayer for illumination that Pam called these readings “love letters.” That may be easier to associate with Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth than Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles, but I believe it to be true all the same. Love is at the base of every stroke of every letter of God’s word, and that is certainly true in today’s readings. The same is true, or at least I hope that it is true, with all that we do as God’s people. We may not always get it right, but everything we do is a faithful attempt to demonstrate and respond to the love we have received in Christ Jesus. Now, before we get into these “love letters,” I want to remind you that over the last few weeks we’ve talked about the way these passages in Jeremiah connect to our core emotions. In Jeremiah 7 we talked about anger and the invitation to compassion. Last week with Jeremiah 18 we talked about fear and the invitation to an uncommon unity – a way o...