We are in the process of updating this page to include recent sermons from our Interim Pastor, The Rev. Dr. Robert (Bob) Livingston. Recent worship services can always be found on our YouTube page.
Below you will find the audio and video recordings, as well as text, of sermons from Pastor Liz and guest preachers. Edgewood also has a dynamic lay preaching program that all church members are invited to participate in. Lay Preachers meet as a group to learn about the sermon writing process, workshop their ideas, and practice preaching. Each lay preacher has an opportunity to give a sermon on Sunday morning during the year. You will see some of those sermons in this archive.
Blessed
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: February 13, 2022 Text: Luke 6:17-26 A recovery group, anonymously meeting in the back of a church. The waiting room of an emergency department full of pain in pain, praying with urgency for answers and help. A funeral home gathering room, friends and family looking through photos, sharing stories, full of gratitude for a life well lived but also pouring out grief at this loss they were never going to be ready for. When…
The State of the Church
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: February 6, 2022 Text: Luke 5:1-11 Every night around 8:30pm, my dog comes and stands in front of me and stares at me. Before this he has been playing, fetching balls all across the house or working for treats or chewing a bone on his own, but 8:30pm is his transition from play time to sleep. Even though he is four years old he still hasn’t figured out how to make that transition on his…
A Pleasing Message
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: January 9, 2022Text: Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 There are many times as a preacher when my reflection on Scripture or what I want tosay to you is best told in the form of a story from the news or our community or even my ownlife. In those times images and stories carry a metaphor to help us connect to the scripture ormore easily find meaning for our lives. But there are sometimes when stories don’t quite…
A Joyful Purpose
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: December 12, 2021 Text: Judges 13:2-7, 1 John 3:1-3, and Luke 1:46-56 Today is my birthday. If you’re going to work on your birthday, you might as well get to be with everyone you love, doing the thing you love most in the world. Birthdays always cause me to reflect on my origin story. I know I’m not the only one who does this on their birthday – we’re spending a whole month thinking…
God Revealed
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 28, 2021 Text: Genesis 16:7-`13 and Luke 1:26-38 There is a bit of difference when it comes to preparing for Christmas inside the church and outside the church. Outside of the church we tend to skip the preparation part – we dive head first into Christmas with festive sweaters, cookie exchanges, cheery songs that have been remade and reusing dozens of times. There is something less sweet and more, well, unsettling, about the…
First Fruits
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 21, 2021 Text: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Sometimes people ask me what I do all week as a pastor once worship is over. The shortest and most honest answer I can give is: meetings. I meet with staff, committees, ministry teams, clergy colleagues, church members with questions, church members with concerns, new folks, old folks, young folks, and everyone in between. I won’t admit this out loud too often, but meetings are one of my…
Grafted by the Root
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 14, 2021 Text: Psalm 1:3 One of my recent joys has been conversations with people who belonged to Edgewood long ago. It’s ranged from people who found Edgewood during college 30 or 40 years ago, siblings who were baptized and grew up here before moving away as young adults, and folks who lived here while working at MSU and raising a family before careers took them out of town. Regardless of what stage…
To Be Seen Weeping
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 7, 2021 Text: John 11:32-44 Earlier this week when I went to prepare our banner of the Saints for worship today, the names I took off it were over two years old. The last time we worshiped in the sanctuary for All Saints day was in 2019. Looking at those names and remembering what things were like when those people each died was the thousandth way I was reminded that we have been…
Witchy Wisdom
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: October 31, 2021 Text: 1 Samuel 28:3-25 Four witches you need to make a coven. Hollywood has more, at least four dozen. Glinda posed the question so long ago: Are you a good witch or a bad witch? We really must know. Moving through time we became Bewitched Samantha and Endora, their noses twitched. About teen witches, there are quite a few Louise Miller, The Craft, and Sabrina come through. You never want to cross…
Who Knows More Than I?
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 17, 2021Text: Job 38:1-7, 34-41 The story of Job was written by someone who wanted an answer to the question, “Whydo bad things happen to good people?” A way, way, way, long time ago people believed that ifyou were good, God would protect you, and if you were bad, God would punish you. It’s a beliefthat still persists, despite ample evidence otherwise. When we receive a difficult diagnosis, westart to wonder if we could have…
All or Nothing
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 10, 2021Text: Mark 10:17-31 Last week Melinda, our wonderful liturgist this morning, received a check in the mail fora bill she had overpaid. The check was for five cents. I joked that she should remember to tithe10% back to the church, and last Sunday she arrived at worship and handed me a shiny nickel.Little did she know she was modeling today’s Gospel lesson when Jesus tells the man who wantsto inherit eternal life that he…
Getting to Know Our Neighbors
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 3, 2021Text: Matthew 10:13-16 There are many things that make Edgewood a unique congregation, unlike any I’ve everencountered in my very churchy life, but one of my favorite things is that Edgewood has anunusually high percentage of people who have lived in countries other than the United States.From Nicaragua to South India, Indonesia to Cuba, Kenya to Canada and beyond, we are apeople who see ourselves as global citizens, invested in politics, cultures, and languages…