Sermons

Audio from sermon given on 9/22/2013 by the Rev. Dr. Judith Blanchard.

Luke 15:1-10 Four decades ago, I worked as a shepherd.  Actually I worked as a shepherd and a cattle wrangler on a large sheep and cattle property in Australia.  I was an exchange student in Molong, New South Wales, about a 2 hour drive northwest of Sydney; and between that property and two others my

Luke 14:25-33 One of the comic strips that has always stayed with me is one of Cathy, a young woman who always seems to be struggling with some life issue.  In this particular cartoon, you see Cathy standing in a supermarket aisle, first picking up one roll of paper towel, then putting it down and

Psalm 103                                                “Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless God’s holy name.”        Sounds like the opposite of what it should be, doesn’t it?  We usually think of God as the one who blesses us, who pronounces favor, benediction and all manner of good things upon us.  For

A little background will be helpful before I read our morning’s lesson.  A steward or manager (the terms were used interchangeably) was given total freedom to negotiate contracts for his master as well as to collect debts.  It was assumed, if not “sanctioned” that the manager would add personal profit for his own benefit to

Matthew 18:21-35                                                            Let me state out loud what many of you might be thinking: everything about our gospel lesson this morning is outrageous.             First of all, the theme of forgiveness in itself is outrageous.  Scripture repeatedly tells us to forgive those who have injured us.  We know that; it’s ingrained within us.  Intellectually

Matthew 13:31-35 If you have ever traveled in the South, you have seen the plant called kudzu. If you have ever lived in the South, and attempted to landscape, you have battled it. Kudzu is not native to the United States. It was introduced to the U.S. by Japan in 1876 at the Centennial Expo

Matthew 20:1-15                                        For all his wonderful stories about God’s love and grace, sometimes the stories Jesus told made his hearers mad.  Like this parable which seems purposefully designed to antagonize the listener.  When we discussed it at the ‘later in the day’ version of Beach Chair Theology, Garvey MacLean recounted how in one church

Luke 14:16-24             Hospitality… it’s important, isn’t it?  Welcoming someone to a meal, taking care with the menu, the guests’ needs; it’s a way to share friendship, to deepen relationships, and if you’re a foodie like me, to have fun experimenting with recipes and presentation.           Hospitality, meals, banquets were important in Jesus’ time as

Mark 4:1-9 Again he began to teach beside the sea.Such a very large crowd gathered around himthat he got into a boat on the sea and sat there,while the whole crowd was beside the seaon the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them: “Listen!