Sermons by Bob Rhodes (Page 10)
Family Candlelight Service
Our 5:00 pm Christmas Eve Service focuses on children and families and will tell the story of Christmas through scripture and song. Children may be invited to join an informal visual tableau (no rehearsal required!) with fun costumes and easy movements. We will conclude with Christmas carols and candles.
The Blessing of Home
As we move toward the fourth and final Sunday of Advent, we continue our series that focuses on coming home for Christmas. The Luke text this week is filled with wonder as cousins greet one another and experience the wonder of connection and the mystery of new life. It’s wonder-full! And it’s a blessing. Scripture: Micah 5:2-5a (NRSV), Luke 1:39-45 (CEB)
The Joy of Home
This is the Third Sunday of Advent, understood in part through our Advent Candle liturgy as a reminder of joy! In light of our series on home, it is my hope that returning home is exciting and joy-filled! For many of us—hopefully most of us—this is indeed the most wonderful time of the year! There is laughter, reunion, and joy; there are happy memories and celebrations of deep love. May this celebration of the third Sunday of Advent help us…
The Fear of Home
We want Christmas to be happy, a time of celebration of joy! And for the most part, it is! And for those whose return home is fraught with anxiety, it is an opportunity: for reconciliation, for healing, for peace. Christmas is a chance for the paths to be made straight, the valleys to be filled, the mountains and hills made low, so that all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Scripture: Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 3:1-6 (NRSV)
Everyone Who Belongs
As we approach the end of our Christian year with Reign of Christ Sunday (sometimes called Christ the King), we might consider where we place Christ in our lives. Have we kept Jesus at the center of our awareness, remembering his parables and teachings? Have we remembered each day and even each moment to follow the commands to love God with all that we have and to love our neighbors as ourselves? Have we allowed Christ to reign in our…
Everything She Had
Through our recent series on parables, there were several times when Jesus would teach the phrase we now hold familiar: the first shall be last and the last shall be first. The text this Sunday may offer a parallel illustration. The text contrasts those who like to be recognized in public, and the humble widow who quietly gives everything. We might consider how this inspires us to live as people of faith. Scripture: Mark 12:38-44
The Rich Man & Lazarus
This Sunday we conclude our sermon series on the parables of Jesus. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus may be another familiar one, and in this case the original audience may have guessed the same about each character as we do today. Even so, Professor Levine reminds us not to think of this parable as one about the afterlife but is a message that we can still make changes in this life. Scripture: Luke 16:19-31
The Widow & the Judge
This Sunday we near the end of our sermon series on the parables of Jesus, this one addressed to those who “need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged.” I’m not sure about you, but the idea of praying continuously wears me out. Honestly, I feel like I have been! So in a way, I feel like this parable is for me. Maybe it’s for you too… Scripture: Luke 18:1-8
The Pharisee & the Tax Collector
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. What a moving parable this is! What an opportunity for us to feel good about ourselves and to comfort ourselves… well at least if we identify more with the tax collector (think IRS) rather than the Pharisee (think of the uber-religious person). Jesus directs this parable to those who hold themselves above others in their religiosity. Scripture: Luke…
The Kingdom of Heaven is Like Yeast
Continuing our series on the parables of Jesus, this Sunday’s text gives us images of growth and height. The yeast fills dough with air, makes it rise, gives it texture and richness. We seem to value these things! And yes, perhaps I’ve inflated this illustration (as preachers are wont to do), and in doing so perhaps have given it texture and richness. The short text for this Sunday is rich with imagery, in part because it is familiar. Scripture: Matthew…
Hospitality: The Good Samaritan
This Sunday we continue our sermon series on the parables of Jesus. Once again, we enter into a familiar story! The Good Samaritan is surely one we’ve heard ourselves, we’ve heard a number of pop culture references, and perhaps we’ve even seen children or grandchildren or nieces/nephews perform skits. We know this story! Perhaps we even see ourselves in this story. Scripture: Luke 10:24-37 (CEB)
Prodigal Son Redux
This Sunday we begin a new sermon series on the parables of Jesus, and the first will be the familiar story of the prodigal son. We’ve surely heard this story before, and sometimes when we hear the same story again and again—even one that has importance to us—we can drift away and lose interest. But when we hear another storyteller or hear another perspective, we can find new interest and new joy in the same story once again. Scripture: Luke…