Sermon for August 5

Sermon for August 5, 2012 Proper 13B by Kate Ekrem

Last week we had wonderful sermons from the El Hogar travelers. But a couple folks said to me after the service, “how about that Old Testament reading!” It was Bathsheba and David --  steamy stuff, that sounds just like a modern  soap opera.

In case you missed last week, our story thus far is: David is sunning himself on his rooftop deck, instead of leading his troops into battle like he should be, and sees the beautiful Bathsheba, wife of Uriah, one of his army commanders. He seduces her, and then a few months later she utters those immortal words, “ I’m pregnant.”

Sermon by Bill Vogele, El Hogar Missioner

Sunday 29 July 2012 Bill Vogele

Buenos Días. Bienvenidos a El Hogar de Amor y Esperanza. Welcome to the home of love and hope.

My name is Bill Vogele, and I am joined this morning by Cathy Burns and Jim Bradley to offer some reflections on our recent trip to Honduras. I have been going on Redeemer trips to El Hogar almost every year since we started in 2006; Cathy has been three times, and Jim went for the first time this year. They will speak about their impressions from those perspectives. Looking back on the several trips, I want to try to put the trip in the biggest perspective.

Sermon by Cathy Burns, El Hogar Missioner

July 29, 2012
by Cathy Burns

Good morning! When I last came up here to tell you about my experience 2 years ago in Honduras, I talked about how moving it was to go to a place where I did not speak the language and was totally out of my comfort zone. I mentioned how welcoming and enriching it was to spend time with the boys and how much their spirit and energy enriched me beyond words.

Well, I just returned from my third trip to Honduras. I still can’t speak Spanish well, but I’m slowly improving. Working and spending time with the boys is still overpowering for me and I’ve come to a very special appreciation for the teachers who are so dedicated to the boys and the farm. What a wonderful gift they are to the boys and to the school. They are definitely unsung heroes in my mind.

But there is something else I want to share with you that I think is equally important.

Sermon by Jim Bradley, El Hogar Missioner

July 29, 2012
by Jim Bradley

Hola Redeemer,
My name is Jim Bradley and I was one of the newbies that went to El Hogar.  From the first time I heard about the trip it was something that I wanted to do.  I had done a couple of similar trips when I was in high school down to the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky,  and spent 6 years in the Navy, so I figured that it would not be too different than what I have seen before.

This year the stars were in alignment, so it was my turn to go, but nothing I had done had prepared me for this adventure.

Sermon for July 22 2012 by Rev. Kate Ekrem

Proper 11B, July 22 2012

Rev. Kate Ekrem

"For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.” That’s from our letter to the Ephesians this morning. And our Gospel says Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

 I used to tell a story about the Good Shepherd to Sunday school children using felt, I still have the felt pieces in my office.  There is felt green pasture and felt still water and also a felt sheepfold, brown strips of felt. Part of the story is to set them up like a fence or wall around the sheep, and to show that the sheepfold has an inside, and an outside, and a DOOR, and then you show how the door can be opened.

The church has walls. But Jesus has broken down a wall

Sermon for July 15, 2012 by Kate Ekrem

Sermon for Proper 10B July 15 2012
Mark 6:14-29
The Rev. Kate Ekrem

“When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.”

This is not a two-dimensional  story we have today about Herod and John the Baptist. Herod’s not such a bad guy. He’s really interested in John’s preaching, he’s intrigued by what the prophet is saying about change and reform, he protects him from those who want to get rid of him, including his own wife Herodias, because John’s words to Herod about change and reform are actually quite personal.

The story says, John tells Herod, it is not lawful for you to marry your brother’s wife, which makes John sound like kind of an annoying moralistic person, but Herod’s family life was seriously out of control,

Sermon for 5 Pentecost by Bill Fortier

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

By Bill Fortier

Copyright Bill Fortier 2012, all rights reserved

Jesus: Now that I've stuffed myself into this two-piece ensemble, proving just how far I'll go to get attention, have a heart, Jesus. Take my words and tie them to folk's hearts. Take them beyond me and my noise, to You, Love beyond all sounds and words. Amen.

Math was never my strongest subject in school. I was a very mediocre math student. Big M: Mediocre. My low point, at least in my memory, was word problems. There probably were lower points but I've gladly repressed them. But I digress: Word Problems. A mix of words and numbers. My brain would melt as I tried to figure them out. Picture my brain sliding out my ears. Some have argued that my Big Mellon Cave has rung hollow ever since.

So let's refresh your memory, Try to follow along and figure:

If John and his traveling troop of 313 yodelers left Hoboken, New Jersey and then met up with 135 Marxist Librarians from East Lansing Michigan who were memorizing all of official flowers from each of the 50