Sermon by Bob King for Mission Sunday October 14 2012

October 14, 2012 Proper 23B by Bob King

Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Mark 10:17-31

When we decided to follow our retreat experience with a focus on mission today, neither Kate nor I had yet checked the lectionary readings.  It can only be the work of the Holy Spirit that we’re given Amos and Jesus’ encounter with the rich young man.  Certainly for me, these two bits of scripture capture both the essence, and the fear of what it means to be a Christian in our world.

Kate asked me to share with you my vision of Redeemer’s mission.   The most revealing way to do that is with two stories.  The first story is not mine, but had perhaps the greatest influence in my life on my sense of church.  I was brought up in an Episcopal parish not so different from Redeemer: good people, emotionally satisfying worship, and a sense of caring for children.  And yet I always felt something was missing.

Sermon for September 23

September 23 2012, Proper 20B, by Kate Ekrem

Some years ago, at another church, we were having a fair, with pony rides and a dunk tank. The bishop offered to come and take part, and when he arrived, he said, do you want me to go in the dunk tank, and I said, "oh yes, bishop that would be great." So he had brought his bathing suit and he stepped into the rectory to change and when he came out he was no longer wearing his fancy purple shirt, but a T-shirt that said....

Sermon for September 9

September 9, 2012 Proper 18B by the Rev. Kate Ekrem

 James 2:1-10, 14-17; Mark 7:24-37

I always love this first Sunday of our new program year each year because it’s so nice to see everyone and have the choir back. Lots of energy! And let me just say right now, I know you were away a lot over the summer and couldn't get to church, you don’t have to apologize to me at the breakfast downstairs. Blanket absolution for everyone. If you were away, I hope it was Sabbath time for you, time to rest and reconnect with yourself and hopefully God as well in a different way.

And now we’re back and what a set of readings to start off with. The shapers of our lectionary must have a wicked sense of humor. We have this letter from James, saying it’s just incompatible with Christian faith to show partiality to treat different groups of people differently is simply wrong, and then we have Jesus doing exactly that, refusing to heal this woman’s daughter because they are not Jewish. What gives? 

Sermon for August 26

Sermon for August 26 Proper 16B by the Rev. Kate Ekrem

John 6:56-69

Did you notice we’ve had about 6 weeks in a row of Gospel readings about bread? Maybe not if you’ve been on vacation a bit this summer, but thematically you haven’t missed much in John’s gospel. This long passage is called the Bread of Life discourse.

It starts out with feeding of 5,000. Now there’s a story about bread. And the people loved it, after Jesus fed them they followed him around, huge crowds were trailing after him, hoping in no small part for more free food, because they were hungry and poor.

Today he tells them, you’re not quite getting it. It’s not just about free food, and not even just about feeding the hungry. It’s about me, Jesus, I’m the bread of life, you have to eat and drink me.

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.