Sermons

Protect them in your name, so that they may be one, as we are one

Rev. Amy Welin (7 Easter):Jesus does not pray for us to be comfortable. He prays for our work. He prays that we will do what God desires for us to do. Because of this prayer, there are some things we can expect. Jesus prays for our unity – we can expect unity to be hard work. Jesus prays for our new life. The new life he promises comes through resurrection after the end of the old life, and it isn’t easy. Jesus prays for protection from evil – we can expect to confront the forces of evil in our work. Jesus prays that God will send us out, just as God sent Jesus out. It is a glorious calling. It is a wonderful and blessed vocation to share God’s good news. We remember that many did not welcome the message of Jesus– and we know that it is not easy. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Protect them in your name, so that they may be one, as we are one”
Sermons

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Rev. Amy Welin (6 Easter):Love one another. Jesus is telling his disciples that the way to rise with him to new life is to practice loving. For that little community, survival depends on their ability to see one another through the eyes of Christ. Their love will allow them to continue to experience life with Christ, even after he is gone from their midst. Their love will sustain them. Their love will identify them as the people of Jesus Christ, and will empower them to transform the world. Love one another. The motherly love of Christ still has the power to transform our world. I have witnessed the people of St John’s ministering to the community and to each other. You are able to do that because you love one another, and you share that with the world. And make no mistake, it is the love of Christ that lives in you that can lead you to do great things. Read More Read more • Leer más → “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
Sermons

Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches

Rev. Amy Welin (5 Easter):In the one vine, each branch has life and is valuable Through Christ, we are part of the one true vine. Our fruit is the same as that of Christ, and it is priceless. What is our fruit? It is our capacity to love and serve, across barriers and man-made boundaries. In God’s garden of true beauty, the church is not the broker of salvation or judgment. The church is the agent of God’s love for the world, as that love was revealed through Jesus Christ. We are the Body of Christ, part of the vine that offers connection to life for the rest of the world. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Jesus said I am the vine, you are the branches”
Sermons

Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him, and follow where he leads

Rev. Amy Welin (4 Easter):Many of us keep an image in our minds of the shepherd who carries home the little lamb. Have you seen that picture? Jesus is the gentle shepherd, in a white robe, with a beautiful little white lamb in his arms. Frankly, he looks rather like a gentleman shepherd, one whose hands and clothes never get dirty. This is a comforting image, but I am not sure I would actually entrust this fellow with the care of my sheep. He looks like he could run joyfully across a flowery field, playing with happy lambs, but he would not be useful fighting off a hungry wolf or pulling a mother sheep out of unruly brambles. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Grant that when we hear his voice we may know him, and follow where he leads”
Sermons

Environmental sustainability is a spiritual issue

Sermon for April 19, 2015 (Third Sunday of Easter)
Rev. Amy Welin:
The collect for the Third Sunday of Easter is well-suited to the Sunday that we read the story of the miracle on the road to Emmaus, when the risen Christ reveals himself in the breaking of bread. In today’s gospel reading, using a passage later in Luke, Jesus also reveals himself in Jerusalem, first by eating a bit of fish and then by breaking open the Scriptures that his followers might understand. The intersection of the Collect and lessons this week is this: we can encounter the Risen Christ in the bread and wine because of the way that Jesus has been revealed in all the Scriptures. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Environmental sustainability is a spiritual issue”
Sermons

Is doubt the enemy of faith?

Sermon for April 12, 2015 (Second Sunday of Easter)
Rev. Amy Welin:
What do you think: Is doubt the enemy of faith? Is doubt a spiritually destructive force that separates us from God? Were you taught that doubting is a personal spiritual failure? (I was.)
 
To have doubts and questions about faith is unsettling, isn’t it? We can wonder if something is wrong with us - are we just faking it? are we foolish? do we need remedial Sunday School? or just to pray harder? In my years as a church leader, I have noticed that people who live with doubts about Jesus and the resurrection can live in a silent desperation, because doubt in the church is treated almost like a leprosy of the soul. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Is doubt the enemy of faith?”
Sermons

Are you looking for Jesus of Nazareth?

Sermon for April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday)
Rev. Amy Welin:
We have known for weeks that spring has been coming, not because the weather has cooperated, but because the peeps and chocolate candy and butterfly toys have arrived in the stores. We have had to trust in the coming of spring, without a lot of observable evidence. Sometimes we realize that the boundary between the dead of winter and the new life of spring is very thin. Read More Read more • Leer más → “Are you looking for Jesus of Nazareth?”
Sermónes / Sermons

By your holy cross, you have saved the world • Por tu santa cruz redimiste al mundo

Sermon for April 3, 2015 (Good Friday)
Sermón de 3 de abril 2015 (Viernes Santo)
Rev. Amy Welin:
In the cross, I do not see a vindictive God who is satisfied by the blood of the pure sacrifice. I see a God who willingly sacrifices all of himself, in opposition to the violence which we demand. I see a God who chooses to be among the godforsaken. En la cruz, no veo un Dios vengativo que está satisfecha con la sangre del sacrificio puro. Veo un Dios que voluntariamente sacrifica todo de sí mismo, en oposición a la violencia que exigimos. Veo un Dios que elige para estar entre los olvidado por Dios. Read More • Lea más Read more • Leer más → “By your holy cross, you have saved the world • Por tu santa cruz redimiste al mundo”
Sermónes / Sermons

Jesus said: Unless I wash you, you have no share with me • Jesus le dijo Si no te los lavo, no podrás ser de los míos

Sermon for April 2, 2015 (Maundy Thursday)
Sermón de 2 de abril 2015 (Jueves Santo)
Rev. Amy Welin:
What would we do if we knew that our life would end in less than a week? ¿Qué haríamos si sabíamos que nuestra vida terminaría en menos de una semana? Read More • Lea más Read more • Leer más → “Jesus said: Unless I wash you, you have no share with me • Jesus le dijo Si no te los lavo, no podrás ser de los míos”
Sermons

And Jesus said, “I am.”

Sermon for March 29, 2015 (Palm Sunday)
Rev. Amy Welin:
The distance we cover during our procession with the palms is not a long one, at least not physically. And it really is rather fun, to walk out of the parish hall and into the church, waving our palm branches in the air and then beginning to sing our hosannas. On a Sunday morning, it is so good to be with the parish community and to celebrate the joy of a new day. Our palms smell fresh and cool and green, like spring. At the same time, we remember the wonderful, exuberant greeting the people of Jerusalem gave to Jesus when he arrived at the city gates so long ago. They cheered and shouted “hosanna” or “save us now, Lord.” They threw their cloaks and palm branches across his path so the dust would not get churned up and cover him. It was a royal welcome. They were hoping for a new day in a political sense, and they wanted their Messiah, Jesus, to be their king. When we go home, we remember that we, too, were a part of this royal welcome. Read More  Listen to this sermon Read more • Leer más → “And Jesus said, “I am.””