Sermons from 2022
There’s Room for Every Story
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 27, 2022 Text: Matthew 1:1-17 If I was to ask the congregation right now to tell the Christmas story, we would craft a narrative that begins with an angel visiting Mary and then Joseph, and then we would describe their long, laborious journey to Bethlehem, inn keeper and all. It is a story we know well, one we have seen acted out by our children and youth in Christmas Eve plays. It is…
Give Them Something to Eat
Preacher: Pastor Liz Miller Date: November 20, 2022 Text: Mark 6:30-44 As a church, we are in the business of feeding God’s people. We do that quite literally – every Wednesday night there is a community dinner where people bring food, pass a plate, and share a meal together. We do that symbolically, each month we e at a piece of bread and drink a sip of juice at the communion table as a reminder of the spiritual food…
To Be Seen
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 30, 2022Text: Luke 19:1-10 One of the most common questions I am asked is from folks who wonder, “Whichversion of the Bible should I be reading? Which one is the best?” The answer I always give is, “Whichever version inspires you to read the Bible! There is no best.” There are interpretations of the Bible that serve different purposes, and it’s a helpful exercise to read the same verses from multiple versions to see what…
In the Ring with God
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 16, 2022Text: Genesis 32:22-31 There once was a man who was caught between a rock and a hard place. The man was Jacob, and the rock was behind him, in the land of his father-in-law. His father-in-law had lied to Jacob, tricking him into 14 years of service and then 20 years, when it should have only been seven, and his father-in-law became very rich because of Jacob’s labor. Jacob grew angry and resentful at…
Increase Our Faith
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: October 2, 2022Text: Luke 17:5-10 When my niece Briley was little, she was really good at telling on her parents. Every time I would talk to her, she would tell me another story about some egregious thing they had done to her. Almost forgot her in a store. Burned dinner. Lost the family cat for several hours. She has pretty outstanding parents which probably made it easier to keep track of the wrongs they committed against…
What Does It Take?
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: September 25, 2022Text: Luke 16:19-31 CEB Last week we heard the parable of the middle manager who turned his loyalties from those at the top of systems of power to those who were most impacted by those systems. In this week’s parable the middle manager has seemingly disappeared and we’re introduced to two new characters: a rich man, and Lazarus.The rich man is really, really rich. Filthy rich. Only wears purple and fine linen, has his…
Quit Quitting, Bold Living
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: September 18, 2022Text: Luke 16:1-13 CEB If you poll church folks about what their favorite parables told by Jesus are, they would include the Good Samaritan, the lost coin and the lost sheep, the prodigal son….The parable of the middle manager rarely makes the list. It’s a complicated parable. If you listened to the scripture reading in one go and said, “Ah yes, that makes perfect sense to me,” then you are already ahead of me.…
Trusting the Potter
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: September 4, 2022Text: Jeremiah 18:1-11 I visited a pottery studio this summer at St. John’s University in Minnesota. While I was there, I did not learn how to make pottery and I was not invited to sit at a potter’s wheel, but I was offered a cup of tea and some cookies. At Saint John’s Pottery, offering hospitality is as important as learning to throw pots. In this studio’s extensive apprentice program, part of what their…
Welcoming the Welcome
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: August 28, 2022Text: Hebrews 13:1-3, 6-8, 15-16 NRSV After worship today there is a group of folks that is gathering to talk about a book they read together, written by our new Conference Minister. A Conference Minister is the person who is the head pastor for all the United Church of Christ congregations in Michigan. She is like our bishop, without a fancy hat and she answers to us instead of us answering to her. Our…
Yes, Even You
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: August 21, 2022Text: Jeremiah 1:4-10 I’m just back from a trip to California, my home state, the centerpiece and main agenda of which was visiting my family back in my hometown Bakersfield. My mom and her husband, my older brother and his wife and two kids, and my grandfather all still live in Bakersfield.Normally when I go back home my family pauses their usual schedules, they take time off work to hang out, and they take…
Packing List
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: July 3, 2022Text: Luke 10:1-11 The Eve of the 4th of July Eve is not an official holiday, but maybe it should be. OnChristmas Eve we tell the story of Christmas Day, pondering its implications for our lives. On New Year’s Eve we look ahead to the New Year, making promises and resolutions, vowing to continue the work began in the last year to be the people we long to be.On Thanksgiving Eve, if you go…
Another Sermon on Love
Preacher: Pastor Liz MillerDate: May 15, 2022Text: John 13:31-35 I have a sermon writing ritual each week that starts and ends with pie. On Thursdayafternoons I log out of email, leave the office, go down the street to the Grand Traverse Pie Company where I buy an unsweetened iced tea and a slice of pie. I do not have a favorite kind of pie. After six years of sermon writing at the Pie Co I have tried every flavor they…
- 1
- 2