Sermons by Rev. Jen Crompton (Page 3)
Keep watch
It’s the first Sunday of Advent, and we begin our journey of watching and waiting. We start a new liturgical year and reground ourselves in the presence of God and a reminder from Jesus to keep watch. So, as we begin our season of watchful waiting, what might we need to reprioritize or let go of so that we can focus on the present moment and not forget the reason for the season.
What is Love?
In our Gospel text for today, Jesus responds to the questions of the Pharisees and shares again the greatest law to love God with all of whom we are, then adds a way in which we can do that by loving our Neighbor as ourselves. While we’ve heard these teachings before, have we truly pondered what it means to love God? What does love in action towards God look like? Join us for a text that often leaves us with more questions than answers.
Bless
This Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of St Francis and learn a little about what his life can teach us. We also consider a familiar gospel text in new ways as we center ourselves in the many characters and positions of the text. The Gospel is rarely an either or text but often a yes and proposition as our lives find us connecting with many faces within the text.
Enough
Our Hebrew text and Gospel invite us to consider the unending Grace God offers us through our creation and the knowledge that we are enough.
Pray
This week, Matthew’s gospel turns to Jesus teaching his disciples what it will mean for him to be the Messiah and the hard road ahead. While this text introduces the idea of suffering into the life of discipleship as followers of Christ, we are also called to ask how we move out of God’s way, out of our own way in developing lives of faith and communities that serve God, each other and the communities around us.
Who do you say that I am?
We encounter a shift in the flow of Matthew’s Gospel this Sunday and hear Jesus talk about all the people and profits others say Jesus may be, but the important question to his disciples and us was, who do you say that I am? As we move through our own lives as followers of Christ, what stories and narratives do we craft of who Jesus was, is, and continues to be in our lives?
The fog and transformation
This Sunday is the feast day of the Transfiguration. How do we continue to follow Jesus through our own times of fog and discernment? Luke’s Gospel and rooted connections with our community help show us the way.
Good Weeds
Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing to you, Holy one. As a child, I spent a lot of time with my grandparents. I was very blessed to have both sets play large roles in my life. I spent most of my summers with my grandma and grandpa Crompton. It was definitely better than daycare, and I learned so much in my time there. One summer, my grandma was teaching me all about…
All Are Welcome
Matthew’s gospel text for today engages us in a conversation about what it means to be a welcoming community. Do we welcome people as they are or place conditions on our welcome? Using the foundations of our faith, we can find the tools which lead us to action and truly welcome all as they are.
Why not us?
In our gospel text for today, Matthew recounts the commissioning of the disciples and Jesus sending them out to heal and do important work. Hearing that the work they are called to is difficult and thus should travel light, we hear our own call to discipleship. As we listen for God’s call in our lives or see the need for response in our communities, maybe the response to that prayer is our own call to act as disciples of Jesus.