One Body

Sermon for January 27, 2019 

Read Psalm 19 and 1 Corinthians12:12-31 

Have you ever stopped to consider how amazing the human body is?

The human body is a remarkable creation, with 60 million cells. Our heart beats 36 million times every year. We produce 300 billion red cells every day. A multitude of complex processes are carried out by our bodies every minute without our even having to think about it. We don't have to tell our heart to beat, or our eyes to blink, or our lungs to fill with air. It just does it on our own. Humans are really remarkable creations.

And we are a particularly apt metaphor for Christ at work in the world today.

Called By Name

Sermon for January 13, 2019 

Read Isaiah 43:1-7       and Luke 3:15-17, 21-22   

What is your name? When asked that question, how do you respond?

My full legal name with titles is Rev. Cara Sutton Milne. Sutton is my mother's maiden name. But I don't think I've ever responded with all of that when asked my name. For me, my name is Cara. That is who I am. The rest are titles attached to my name, important titles, but titles nonetheless.

Gifts

Sermon for January 6, 2019 

Read Isaiah 60:1-9    and Matthew 2:1-12           

While for most of us, the season of gift giving is past, wrapping paper and decorations have been stored away for another year, for the church, today is the day we talk about gifts. It is Epiphany, the twelfth of the twelve days of Christmas and the day we celebrate the coming of those wise men to Jesus and the gifts they bear. 

So, what makes something a good gift? What’s the sort of thing you were excited to get over the holidays?

Welcoming Love

Sermon for December 23, 2018 

Read Micah 5:1-5 and Luke 1:39-45

I want to take a closer look at Elizabeth this morning. She is Mary’s relative, soon to be mother of John the Baptist, and to understand all that is happening in this story we need a little background on Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah.

Zechariah is a clergyman, and Elizabeth is a descendant of the Hebrew people's first high priest, Aaron. Like other many couples whose stories appear in the Scriptures, these two good people had no children. They had prayed fervently for a child, but the months and years went by without a pregnancy and now they were getting old. In fact, they were well past the age when prayers for a child seemed sensible. 

Preparations in the Wilderness

Sermon for December 9, 2018 

Read Philippians 1:3-11 and Luke 3:1-6

Have you noticed that we meet up with John the Baptist  every year in Advent? I’ve never seen him featured in an Advent calendar or a Christmas display, but all four Gospels place him front and center in Jesus’s origin story. He’s kind of a strange character to find there, not someone who cleans up well for a Christmas card. And yet, all of them begin the opening acts of Jesus with a scene featuring the sack-cloth wearing, locust eating crazy man.

Hope For The Future

Sermon for December 2, 2018 

Read Jeremiah 33:14-16  and Luke 21:25-36

Well, the season of advent is upon us again. The season of waiting. The time that turns us towards the watching and waiting and preparing for the birth of Christ. We count down the next few Sundays to the anniversary of Jesus' birth.

What Kind of King?

Sermon for November 25, 2018 

Read Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43

 It might seem odd for us to turn and visit the cross right before advent. After all the holidays are coming up. We’re supposed to be talking about the nativity and the birth of Jesus. This is a time of anticipation and celebration. And as we finish celebrating thanksgiving, we see our savior on the cross, suffering and dying and forgiving us despite ourselves. It does tend to put a damper on the festivities, doesn't it?