Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
December 28, 2003
Scripture:
In the church calendar, it’s still Christmas. Out in the world, we equate the Christmas season with the shopping season that extends from the day after Thanksgiving to the day before Christmas. On December 26, the "after Christmas" sales begin. In the church, however, the season of Christmas doesn’t start until Christmas Day,
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
December 21, 2003
Scripture:
Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, and the theme of the day is joy.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
December 14, 2003
Scripture:
Today is the third Sunday of Lent, and the theme of the day is love.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
December 7, 2003
Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and the theme of the day is peace. A few minutes ago we lit the second Advent candle, the candle of peace. It burns among us now, bring us the light of Christ’s peace. Peace, of course, is a very good thing.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
November 30, 2003
Scripture:
Today is the first Sunday of Advent.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
November 23, 2003
Scripture:
You may have noticed in your bulletin that today is "Reign of Christ" Sunday. At least, that’s what we call it in the oh so politically correct UCC.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
November 16, 2003
Scripture:
You’ve all heard it said that the only things that are certain are death and taxes. That may be a joke about the unavoidability of taxes; but it reflects, I think, a universal human longing, a longing for permanence. We know that, really, nothing in this world lasts, but we don’t like it.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
November 9, 2003
Scripture:
We do things differently here. I mean, this church, I suppose like most churches, has its own way of doing things that isn’t exactly what the experts on church administration and life tell us is how things should be done.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
October 26, 2003
Scripture:
In churches like ours it is very common for us to talk about the spiritual life as a journey.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
October 12, 2003
Scripture:
Let me tell you a story about a man I know, a true story actually. He is quite advanced in years now, although still vigorous and mentally as sharp as ever. He grew up Catholic. In his youth, into his college years, he was powerfully attracted to the Catholic Church. He even considered becoming a priest, going so far as to talk to the local bishop about once.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
October 5, 2003
Scripture:
Here in church, we talk a lot about how God loves us, each and every one of us.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
September 28, 2003
Scripture:
Last Sunday was, I believe and hope, a very important day in the life of our church.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
September 21, 2003
Scripture:
As most of you know, I usually preach from the Scripture selections contained in the Revised Common Lectionary. Sometimes the lectionary strings together related passages in consecutive weeks in such a way that a pattern emerges. We’re dealing with such a situation this week.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
September 14, 2003
Scripture:
I think we would all agree that wisdom is a virtue, something good, something to be desired. We might not all agree on what wisdom is, but I think we’d all agree that it is a good thing.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
September 7, 2003
Scripture:
Our scripture lessons this morning tell us the being deaf is a bad thing.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
August 31, 2003Scripture:
As most of you know, wars have been fought over the question of whether our salvation requires us to do anything.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
August 24, 2003Scripture:
Back in the 1960s, or maybe it was the early ‘70s, there was a popular song that had a verse in it something like this:
Don’t you know you have to make up your mind,
And say yes to one and leave the other behind.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
August 17, 2003Scripture:
One of the most striking, and also one of the most distinctive phrases in Hebrew Scripture, and frankly one that has always given me a lot of trouble, is the phrase "the fear of God."
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
August 10, 2003Scripture:
Sometimes when I read certain verses in Scripture my principal reaction is: "You’ve got to be kidding!"
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
August 3, 2003Scripture:
"I am the bread of life." That of course is the best known line from the Gospel lesson we just heard. It was not , however, the thing that most struck me when I read that lesson in preparation for preaching this morning.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
July 27, 2003Scripture:
Hello. My name is Mathias. I want to tell you a story about a most amazing thing that happened to me many years ago when I was a small boy and what I learned about God from what happened.
I spent the week before last at the Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry Summer Institute for Liturgy and Worship. You all approved a week of paid study leave so I could attend that Institute, and having now completed it I feel moved to share with you the conclusions, or better the vision, with which I come away from that experience.
[The following is a transcript, more or less word for word, of a sermon I gave without a text on Sunday, July 13, 2003. The occasion for this sermon was the sudden and tragic death at age 55 of a member of our church family, Ken Simon together with other events mentioned in the sermon.]
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 29, 2003Scripture:
Because I thought I might not be able to be with you today because of my mother’s health problems down in Oregon, I arranged, through the miracle of time travel, for a guest speaker for this morning. Now that I’m here, it is my honor to introduce to you Mr. ben Judas. Mr. ben Judas is a Pharisee from the first century CE, a leader of the Jews, a teacher, a scholar, and an expert in Torah law.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 22, 2003Scripture:
Our Gospel lesson this morning is one of those Bible stories about Jesus that everyone knows, even people who don’t know much about Jesus or the Bible.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 15, 2003Scripture:
First of all I want to thank you for inviting me to preach here this morning at my old home church, my parents’ church to this day. It is a real joy for me to be here. I bring you greetings from the Pacific Northwest Conference and from Monroe Congregational United Church of Christ, the wonderful little church that I have the great honor to serve as pastor. I bring you special greetings from Ms. Betty Stewart, who used to be a member here and is now a much loved member of our church in Monroe.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 8, 2003Scripture:
Today is Pentecost Sunday, the day we commemorate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon Christ’s disciples as recounted in Acts. Pentecost is traditionally the birthday of the church, the church-that’s us-being the gathered disciples of Christ inspired by the Holy Spirit.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
June 1, 2003Scripture:
Today, as every time we celebrate communion, we will be talking about death.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
May 25, 2003Scripture:
The other night at a meeting of a community group I have been attending in Snohomish that is facilitated quite coincidentally by my colleague Deborah Adams of the UCC church in Everett, someone raised the issue of the Holocaust. How, she asked, could that unspeakable tragedy have happened in a country in which virtually all of the people were Christian? She then asked a very profound question: "Has religion failed us?" Virtually simultaneously, almost with one voice as though we had rehearsed it, Deborah and I immediately answered: "Absolutely."
Rev. Kathleen Marie Morgan
May 18, 2003Scripture:
Good morning. I know that you had a Sunday last January when you talked about baptism, so the story is not new...at least as far as baptism goes. The theme of the Renewal meeting in Wenatchee is Living Water, AND we are surrounded by water and it falls freely from the sky here in the northwest. Combining these images this morning, I sought to find a common denominator and found that both of the scriptures we read are full of questions.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
May 11, 2003Scripture:
Christians talk a lot about sheep, or at least we talk a lot about shepherds, and a shepherd isn’t a shepherd without sheep.
Scripture:
We have one of those occasions in the Gospel lesson this morning, of which there are several, where people become very confused when faced with direct manifestations of the Holy in their lives.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
April 27, 2003Scripture:
This morning’s Gospel reading, popularly known as the story of "Doubting Thomas," has become one of my favorites.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
April 20, 2003Scripture:
Let’s face it. We live in a world that to all appearances is dominated by death.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
April 13, 2003Scripture:
Today we are observing this special Sunday not just as Palm Sunday but as Palm/Passion Sunday. That means that in this one service we are moving from the joyous proclamation of Jesus' triumphal entry to Jerusalem to the cross, a Reader's Digest version of Holy Week in one hour.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
April 6, 2003Scripture:
Today is the fifth Sunday in Lent. We usually think of Lent as the time leading up to Easter, and so it is. Before it leads up to Easter, however, it leads us to Good Friday, that is, it leads us to the cross, to the brutal execution of the One we proclaim to be the incarnation of the only begotten Son of God.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
March 30, 2003Scripture:
A bronze serpent on a stick saving people from poisonous snake bites? Give me a break! Stories like this one from Numbers can, if taken literally, lend credence to the claim of some atheists that faith is nothing but superstitious nonsense.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
March 23, 2003Scripture:
Last week I asked the question: "Where is our hope?" I gave the answer: "In God alone." That is indeed the correct answer to the question; but as we find our nation yet again at war this morning, unleashing immense destructive power against Iraq, we really cannot help but ask: "Yes, but where is God?"
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
March 16, 2003Scripture:
It seems to me that we live in a time of despair, that we have all lost hope. Among other things, we have lost hope in our political, social and economic institutions. Very few of us trust the government any more.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
March 9, 2003Scripture:
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. I suspect that we all know that there is a season in the church year called Lent, but I wonder how many of us know what Lent really is.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
March 2, 2003Scripture:
In Mark’s account of the Transfiguration that we just heard, Peter comes across as awfully confused, nonplussed maybe by what he had just seen. Or maybe it’s Mark who is overwhelmed by the experience he is here recounting. In any event,
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
February 23, 2003Scripture:
This story about the men digging through the roof of Jesus’ house in Capernaum to lower their paralyzed friend down to be healed has always struck me as truly bizarre.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
February 16, 2003Scripture:
If we go by Mark’s account of the matter, Jesus had a problem.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
February 9, 2003Scripture:
It’s no secret that in many ways I am, for want of a better word, a very liberal Christian. I know that my liberal bent has led me to take some positions that some of you disagree with.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
February 2, 2003Scripture:
Have you ever been in a situation that was such a mess, that was so out of control, that you just wanted to scream: Who’s in charge around here anyway!?
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
January 26, 2003Scripture:
Some of you may recall that last June, on the Sunday of my ordination, I departed from the prescribed lectionary and used the story of Jonah as my text for a
sermon on the notion of call. Well, here we are, back to good old Jonah,
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
January 19, 2002Scripture:
The Hebrew Scripture reading this morning comes from the book of 1 Samuel. I have a confession to make.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
January 12, 2003Scripture:
I remember hearing once about a young woman who was completing her confirmation class at a UCC church. She was caught up in the excitement of the faith, overflowing with enthusiasm for the renewed commitment she was about to make to be a Christian. She decided that the best way to celebrate her confirmation was to be re-baptized, so she told her pastor she wanted to do that. She was powerfully disappointed when he told her, quite correctly, that we don’t re-baptize people.
Rev. Tom Sorenson, Pastor
January 5, 2002Scripture:
So much nonsense gets written about the Star of Bethlehem. I mean, every year we are treated to accounts of otherwise rational and intelligent people trying to figure out, to guess really, what sort of natural phenomenon it was. Was it a comet? Was it a supernova? Was it some sort of convergence of planets? When I hear these stories my only reaction is: Alas, literalism will never die.