Sermons by Lisa Bowersock (Page 14)
October 18, 2020
October 18, 2020 “Going with God” Isaiah 57:1-7 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Several years ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the topic somehow turned to a very “hot button” issue. My friend and I respectfully expressed our opposing views on this hot-button topic – and then my friend…
October 4, 2020
October 4, 2020 “The Truth of the Matter” Isaiah 5:1-7 Philippians 3:10-14 Matthew 21:33-46 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. OK, I am going to start with a confession. I found this week’s scripture passages to be extremely challenging and difficult – they talk of murder and death and destruction – hardly “feel good” passages. However, not every passage…
September 20, 2020
September 20, 2020 “From the Beginning” Micah 6:6-8 1 John 2:7-10 John 13:31-35 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. So, in the passage from 1 John that we just heard, the writer says, “I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning.” The audience for the writer of 1 John…
September 6, 2020
September 6, 2020 “Where Two or Three are Gathered” Ezekiel 33:10-11 Romans 13:8-14 Matthew 18:15-20 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. Jesus said, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Certainly, in these days of social distancing and adapting to life during a pandemic, these words of Jesus can take on…
August 16, 2020
August 16, 2020 “Do the Right Thing” Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32 Matthew 15:10-20 In our Old Testament passage for today, God instructs the people, through the prophet Isaiah, to “maintain justice” and “do what is right.” When I read those words my mind immediately went to a movie my children and I recently watched. Over the course of these past months of sheltering in place I have been very grateful to have my children with me. And…
July 26, 2020
July 26, 2020 “A Wise and Discerning Mind” 1 Kings 3:5-12 Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 I love the Old Testament passage for today from 1 Kings. When given the chance to ask God for absolutely anything, King Solomon asks God for wisdom. So, here’s the thing about Solomon asking God for wisdom. It takes a certain degree of wisdom in the first place in order to understand the need for gaining more wisdom. Does that make sense? Just as…
July 12, 2020
July 12, 2020 “What Do We Sow?” Isaiah 55:10-13 Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 I am guessing that most of us grew up knowing this childhood rhyme: Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I looked up this expression, and there are varying accounts as to where it originated, as well as its intended purpose and meaning. But I think even as a child I understood it had a much deeper meaning than…
June 21, 2020
June 21, 2020 “The Cost of Discipleship” Quarantine Sermon #7 Jeremiah 20:7-13 Romans 6:1b-11 Matthew 10:24-39 So, we just heard some pretty disturbing words in our Gospel passage for today – words that do not sound like the kind and gentle Jesus we know and love. What does Jesus mean when he says he has not come to bring peace but a sword? And why does he say that he has come to set a man against his father and…
June 7th, 2020
Please see attached YouTube Link.
The Way – May 10, 2020
The Way, May 10, 2020, Quarantine Sermon #4 1 Peter 2:2-10, Acts 7:55-60, John 14:1-14 So, in our Gospel passage for today from John, Jesus speaks some very familiar words – he says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus speaks these words in response to a very direct question from Thomas. Thomas asks Jesus, “How can we know the way? I think that is a question people continue to ask, especially in these very uncertain and…
“Dry Bones” – March 29, 2020
“Dry Bones” March 29, 2020, Quarantine Sermon #1 Ezekiel 37:1-14 (1-6, 11, 14), John 11:1-45 The scripture passages for today that Rev. Tussing just shared run the whole gamut of human emotion – from hopelessness and despair, to restoration and new life. I am especially drawn to the very human Jesus that we experience in the Gospel lesson from John. I’ll come back to that in just a moment. It feels truly timely that our lectionary passages – which were…