Sermons

A sermon for 8th Day Community on the Third Sunday of Easter

April 19, 2026

Text: Luke 24:13-35 … Walk to Emmaus

Let me begin with a question: How do you know when somebody loves you?

Actions speak louder than words, do they not? No words can cover up a deep feeling of connection — or a deep feeling of distrust. Our bodies know – register feelings – guide our behavior.  Our feelings can tell us when we are in a safe place – or not.

But most of us have learned to disconnect from our feeling center, and instead, to live a divided life – functioning in a competent and self-contained way even when we are grieving or afraid. We look for causes – or cures – rather than feeling the helpless terror of an unknown threat.

I find myself doing that a lot these days, as we careen in and out of war and economic disaster. That is simply the environment we live in – eerily similar to the world in which Jesus lived and died.

The Third Sunday of Easter

April 19, 2026

Scripture

On the Sunday after Good Friday two men who knew Jesus were walking to the village of Emmaus talking about the latest events. They had never seen a week like they had just been through: the last supper, a violent arrest in the garden, the political trial, the horrendous crucifixion, and just that morning, the final mystery: an empty tomb.

The followers of the Jesus were now frightened and confused. Jesus had entered Jerusalem to acclaim.  On Palm Sunday his presence brought the possibility of freedom to the occupied people, but a few days later that hope was gone. The Roman occupation was still in effect. The oppression continued. Everyone wondered what would happen next?

The Second Sunday of Easter

April 12, 2026

Katie brought the Word for All Ages this Sunday:

Ancient people studied the world and developed movements based on animals, trees, rivers, planets to align themselves with the natural world. We’re going to do some movements today from their system,  called qigong. It’s not like regular exercise, where you work really hard; the point is to relax your whole body while you are moving and let your life force move through you. First we will take three nice deep breaths. Then we will do the following movements:

Easter Sunday

April 5, 2026

Good morning, Seekers.  Christ has risen!  Happy Easter everyone.  I don’t think I’m exaggerating: the Feast of the Resurrection is the climax of the Christian calendar.  It’s a wonderful day for the church because it gives us much hope for our lives and for the world.  

But to really get into the experience of the resurrection,   we have to get into the meaning of the cross.  Indeed, the cross is the most prominent feature in our sanctuary here at Seekers.

We can’t spiritually bypass the crucifixion because it was and still is the ultimate expression of God’s love for us.

The Final Sunday in Lent

March 29, 2026

As I worked on my sign for the No Kings demonstration yesterday, I felt a new connection to the crowds welcoming Jesus to Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday. [Matt 21:1-11]

In Matthew’s text, Jesus entered Jerusalem on a common donkey with no armed escort — which would have recalled the prophecy, especially for educated Temple leaders, from Zechariah (9.9) “Look, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”  On the other side of the city, Marcus Borg points out that heavily armed Roman troops were also entering the city — to bolster resident troops in case the Jewish Passover celebration aroused rebellion.