Sermons from 2020

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: December 6, 2020Text: Mark 1:1-8 This weekend was the 8th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela. His legacy is as the great anti-apartheid and anti-racism leader, a mediator and practitioner of reconciliation, an expert at conflict resolution. But long ago, early in his life, Mandela was considered an outlier by those he confronted. He was a rebel, someone to be feared and silenced. Mandela spoke hardtruths to people who were not ready to hear them.…

Mark 13:24-37Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: November 29, 2020Text: Mark 13:24-37 Early this year, when I resigned myself to celebrating Easter with Edgewood in an online worship service, I never thought that we would be doing the same for Advent and Christmas. In fact, in mid-March when we first moved online, I told you all, “If we can just do this for two weeks we’ll have the biggest Easter celebration we’ve ever seen.” And then as Easter came andwent I thought,…

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: November 8, 2020 Text: Amos 5:18-24 I’ve spent the better part of this week wondering what a post-election sermon would look like in 2020. I assumed that I needed to know the results before I could find my inspiration, that the political climate might change the arc of what I am called to preach this week. Then I received a text message that changed my perspective, or rather, brought it back to God’sperspective.A wise woman reminded…

Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: October 18, 2020 Text: Matthew 22:15-22 Our church follows a calendar called the lectionary that rotates through different scripture passages each week. This calendar was created with no thought to American holidays or events, and yet, there are occasionally coincidences that just seem too good to be coincidence. The appearance of the Gospel story we heard today is my favorite example. Every three years, just two weeks before Election Day, whether it’s a presidential election…

Guest Preacher: Rev. Loren McGrailDate: October 11, 2020 Text: John 17-44 Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive,and go do it because what the world needsis people who have come alive.Howard ThurmanUnbeing dead isn’t alive.e.e. cummings In our Gospel story about Lazarus, Jesus comes late to Mary and Martha’s home— four days late. Martha chastises him for not getting there sooner because he might have been able to do something to prevent their brother’s death.…

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: September 27, 2020Text: Jonah 3:10-4:11 You are welcome to disagree with me, but I state bold in the claim that the fish that swallowed Jonah is one of the most important Biblical characters, and we do not talk about that poor fish with a bad case of indigestion nearly enough. We are quick to focus on Jonah and his stubbornness, or quick to explore the change of hearts of the people of Ninevah, but why does…

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: September 20, 2020Text: Exodus 16:2-15 This scripture of the Israelites whining in the wilderness is so validating. Who among us hasn’t been in our own wilderness, and even though we say we have faith that everything will work out, or we know from past experience we will probably get through it, have a whole lot of complaining to do along the way? If you are having trouble thinking of an example, look no further than the…

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: August 30, 2020Text: Romans 12:9-21 One of my favorite games to play on road trips or with groups who are getting to know each other is the classic “Would You Rather?” To play this game you simply pose a series of questions and ask your audience to choose between two options.● Would you rather be covered in fur or covered in scales?● Would you rather know the history of every object you touched or be able…

Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: July 19, 2020Text: Genesis 28:10-19 Video: Virtual Worship Service Writer poet Wendell Berry said in his novel Jayber Crow that, “Prayer is like lying awake at night, afraid, with your head under the cover, hearing only the beating of your own heart. It is like a bird that has blundered down the flue and is caught indoors and flutters at the windowpanes. It is like standing a long time on a cold day, knocking at a…

Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: July 12, 2020 Text: Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Video: Virtual Worship Service I once met a patent agent, someone who is responsible for helping inventors go through the application process to complete the application for their new inventions. What I learned was that a lot of their work was pretty routine and kind of boring, but occasionally someone would come with an invention that was really unique and interesting. This patent agent told me that the…

Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: June 21, 2020 Text: Luke 19:1-10 Video: Virtual Worship Service I love Zacchaeous. When I picture who Zacchaeous might represent in our world today, I picture each one of us on December 31, 2019. That was the night the world echoed with New Year’s resolutions not just for the year 2020, but for a new decade. Promises were made, many silently, some recorded in journals or shared with loved ones. Resolutions were formed to hit…

Date: May 24, 2020 Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Text: Exodus 5:1-2; 7:8-23 Video: Virtual Worship Service Part of this pandemic experience is having more extreme highs and lows, and never really being able to predict when your feelings are going to shift or what they will shift too. That alone is a little exhausting. I had a new low this week. I get the New York Times daily digest and to preserve my sanity for the rest of the day,…