Worship & Sermon Archive

Happy Birthday!  On the first Sunday of March back in 1835, our congregation officially began, dedicated as the "Second Wesleyan Chapel". A church building was soon under construction, down on Mulberry Street.   Barely 23 years later, the congregation moved uptown to a brand-new place on Park Ave S. & 22nd St. - a soaring ediface, clothed in marble, with a 210-foot steeple, largely the gift of church trustee Daniel Drew. It was truly a glorious building, but lasted only 40 years. 

"When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him." - Luke 5:11...Friends, That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: "Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus... It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going."

"When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him." - Luke 5:11...Friends, That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: "Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus... It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going."

"When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him." - Luke 5:11...Friends, That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: "Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus... It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going."

I don't know about you, but some days lately, I feel pretty drained. It's hard to deal with one more piece of news. It's a challenge to summon the energy to respond to one more problem or situation.

Over the last several days, the power of words has been on full display. Proclamations, addresses, orders, organizational memos, statements, and lots and lots of emails, tweets, texts, and posts are swirling around us, each claiming to convey messages of import. So many words, so little time.

I don't know about you, but some days lately, I feel pretty drained. It's hard to deal with one more piece of news. It's a challenge to summon the energy to respond to one more problem or situation.

This week, as we move into the season of Epiphany, the season of the liturgical cycle where we learn more about Jesus and his life, we celebrate Baptism of Jesus Sunday.

Epiphany, marking the day when the Wise Ones arrive in Bethlehem to see the infant Jesus, has the larger meaning of 'shining forth' or 'becoming clear'.

Join us at St. Paul & St. Andrew for our Christmas Eve services.

We've waited all year - it's almost here! The cherished St Paul & St Andrew Service of Lessons & Carols, that is! This Sunday at 11am, Dr. Frank Glass, the Choir, and wonderful instrumentalists will join together to bring Christmas closer.

It's the fabulous St. Paul & St. Andrew Christmas Pageant! This year's pageant is "The Writers' Room."

On this blessed Second Sunday of Advent, we look to the coming of -- John the Baptist?? Certainly! John the Baptist is the central character of Advent, the star, so to speak. And boy, is his a story to be told.

Very few things grab our attention as quickly as the simple phrase, "Once upon a time." Storytime is the best. Kids and adults both love the cozy, cuddle up time over a picture book. And there is nothing as sweet or tender as a heart-to-heart between loved ones, when somebody takes a tiny leap of faith to share with another a bit of their life's story.

On this last Sunday of the Christian year, right before the beginning of Advent, we celebrate "The Reign of Christ", also known as Christ the King Sunday. It has an interesting history. In 1920s Italy, Pope Pius XI was concerned about the rise of a narrow nationalism and fascism at home and abroad, and he wanted to mark a day for the church to emphasize that, as Christians, our primary loyalty is not to a political party, or any leader, or even our nation, but to Jesus Christ.

Birth pangs are a frequently used motif in the apocalyptic imagery that was common in Jesus's Jewish tradition. As someone who physically birthed two humans from my womb, I know a thing or two about birth pangs. One of the things I learned through my labor and delivery experiences is that fear-based resistance intensifies pain and draws out the process in dangerous and unhealthy ways. We've been talking and singing about the importance of resistance, of holy resistance, in recent days.

The gospel story of the woman giving her last two coins to the temple treasury leaves me with some questions. Jesus notices the woman's generosity, but does he actually approve of her contributing so sacrificially? And why does this widow, offered so little protection by religious or secular law, want to support a system that ignores her and her needs?

Jesus is clear. These are the greatest commandments, and they work together. You can't love God without loving your neighbor, and that requires loving yourself as well. But how many of us are good at all three?

"Whoever wishes to become great among you must be a servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be servant of all." Mark 10:43 Why are we here? That's a question I ask myself every now and then. Maybe more now than then, given the strange and troubling political climate of this moment.

"Who are you?," is one of those big existential questions that I think faces all of us. On the most basic level, our names are the first ever introduction we get to most relationships. From emails, to texts, to perhaps even being yelled at in a crowded spaces, our names and what we call ourselves shapes deeply how other people interact with us.