Sermon for First Sunday in Lent

Hello friends,

Here is my sermon from yesterday. I always have second thoughts after preaching and in this case am not sure I was so fair to poor St. Augustine. Bill Fortier pointed out in yesterday's adult forum that often we are guilty of repeating what other writers have said about someone rather than reading the original for ourselves. I think I probably did that to the good Bishop of Hippo. Back to the original sources to make sure I got it right...

By the way, if you missed Bill's "Bread, Bible, and Battles", do come join us on Feb 27th! Never have I heard someone so compellingly connect church history and modern brain science. Fascinating stuff!

My ideas about sin in this sermon are very much influenced by Marcus Borg's book, The Heart of Christianity, which I recommend highly.

Sermon for 1 Lent, March 13 2011 by the Rev. Kate Ekrem

Today I’d like to talk about sin! Oh good, you are all still here. So, raise your hand if sin means for you something that makes you feel guilty, or you think is supposed to make you feel guilty, or is just a word you

Lenten challenge in the Boston Globe

Hello friends,

I saw this article in this weekend's Boston Globe by G. Jeffery MacDonald and thought it was though-provoking. The author says Lent is "widely ignored" by American Christians because we don't like to deny ourselves anything. And, he suggests, we are consumerist in general about church, seeking entertainment and emotional support rather than "the harder and more edifying parts of Christianity." He says, "Strangely, Americans recognize the value of sacrifice in pursuing material goals, such as prosperity via education. Yet we tell ourselves that spiritual growth can be cost-free." He concludes, "It’s time for American Christians to reclaim the power of their tradition. Lent is the right time to start. The season beckons Christians to grow in character and compassion by walking in their ancestors’ footprints."

What do you think? Is MacDonald on to something or off-base?

Sermon for Last Epiphany

Here is my sermon from this past Sunday. I welcome any comments or reflections. The scripture readings are here.

Sermon by the Rev. Kate Ekrem for March 6 2011 Transfiguration/Last Epiphany

If light has been our theme this Epiphany, today’s readings bring it all home. Moses encounters the devouring fire of God on the mountaintop, Peter talks about the lamp shining in a dark place until the day days and the morning star rises, and Jesus shining like the sun in the gospel.

In this Epiphany seasons, we’ve been talking about light, us being God’s light and salt,

Tough words from Jesus

This Sunday's Gospel was a tough one to preach on: fire and brimstone, plus adultery and divorce! Here's my sermon. And you can find the scripture readings here. For me, this Gospel passage connected to the teachings of the Desert Fathers and Mothers about how we should just let our thoughts be thoughts and not let them control us. I was thinking a lot about this book by Benedictine nun Mary Margaret Funk, but didn't specifically reference it in the sermon.

I welcome your comments and reflections. Here's a discussion question to get you started: if you had been preaching this Sunday, what might you have said?

Sermon by the Rev. Kate Ekrem, 6 Epiphany, Feb 13th 2011

Light and salt, Sabeth reminded us last week are what Jesus asks us to be. Bringing illumination and flavor to the world. And being light and salt is not just about doing a certain thing, it’s about being a certain way. A way that Jesus continues to unpack in this next passage from Sermon on the Mount.

Follow Up from Sunday's Adult Forum

We started a discussion yesterday about what we, as Christians, should be doing in response to challenges in the world that we might consider to be issues of social justice, that was precipitated by the ouster of the Tunisian president by public revolt and the current public outcry in Egypt calling for the removal of President Mubarak.

Welcome to Redeemer's new blog

Welcome! This is the home of Church of Our Redeemer's new blog. Our idea is to offer spiritual reflections from our clergy -- Kate, Sabeth, and Ted -- and give our church community a chance to share ideas, via the comments, about living a spiritual life in today's world. We'll also post our sermons and invite you to comment on them to share what was meaningful to you, or what other things it made you think about. We hope you'll subscribe (using the tools on the right) so you can get some spiritual thoughts-for-the-day sent right to your email, phone, or whatever. Enjoy!

Peace and blessings,

Kate

Welcome

Welcome to Church of Our Redeemer’s newest mode of communication! It is our hope that this blog will allow our church community to share inspiration, upcoming calendar events, celebrations, and communicate new programs in an easy paperless manner. Each new post will be “tagged” by a theme, so that our readers can easily access a category of previously published materials. Sermons. Christian Formation. Mission. Music. Celebrations. Stewardship. Please consider subscribing to this blog in a “reader” which allows new posts to be emailed directly to you as they are published.