Seekers recognizes that any member of the community may be called upon by God to give us the Word, and thus we have an open pulpit with a different preacher each week. Sermons preached at Seekers, as well as sermons preached by Seekers at other churches or events, are posted here, beginning with the most recent.
Click here for an archive of our sermons.
Feel free to use what is helpful from these sermons. We only ask that when substantial portions are abstracted or used in a written work, please credit Seekers Church and the author, and cite the URL.
“Committed to the Jesus Way” by David Lloyd
Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 24, 2023
Have you noticed that our Seekers Church member’s commitment statement doesn’t include a profession of faith? Whether committing for the first time or recommitting, I merely affirm “my relationship with this Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God through the ages.”
Our omission of a profession of faith has helped a number of people over the years who didn’t initially name themselves as Christians become members of Seekers. Some described themselves as spiritual rather than as religious. A few described themselves as Buddhists or as Christian Buddhists. If I remember correctly, we’ve had one or two members of Alcoholics Anonymous who regarded our member’s commitment as similar to the third step of AA, “a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” And some said they were just followers of Jesus.
“Walking on Dry Ground” by Jacqie Wallen & John Morris
Sixeenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 17, 2023
John and Jacqie come up to the podium and look at each other with concern
Jacqie: Um…
John: Er… Well, let’s get started. Remind me how we are going to do this.
Jacqie: We decided to take a kind of lectio divina approach to the scripture readings. We each would pick some ideas or phrases that resonated with us and we would talk about them. Then, because we are coming up on Recommitment Sunday, we would somehow tie it all to commitment.
John: The first phrase that caught my attention was “He clogged their chariot wheels…”
“Recommitment Week 1” by Marjory Bankson
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 10, 2023
Text: Matt 18:15-20
Today marks the beginning of our Recommitment Season, which will end on the third Sunday of October – when we will have the opportunity to stand and speak aloud our commitment as a Member of Seekers. Then some of us will make an additional commitment as Stewards.
The Member’s commitment is open to anyone who wants to be intentional about their spiritual growth. The Steward’s commitment adds two important aspects: belief in the Trinity and care for the whole community. We also expect additional commitments of time and money from Stewards, but that core group is open to anyone who is called to invest in the overall health of the Seekers community.
“Authority at the Point of Call” by Ken Burton
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
September 3, 2023
This sermon has three parts. First, I have a few words about the Hebrew Scriptures reading, the story of Moses and the burning bush. Then I want to share a recent dream of mine which focused this sermon for me. Finally, out of all of that, come words about authority, that is, “authority at the point of call,” within Seekers Church.
Moses both hears God’s new call on his life and, with God’s “I will be with you”, is empowered to carry it out. He is given authority at his point of call.
“Growing in Faith and Courage” by Madeline Yates
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
August 27, 2023
The full text of Madeline’s sermon is not available. Below are the highlights.
Madeline spoke about growing in faith as reflected in growing in courage. Working from the courageous actions of the women in Moses’ early life, she asked the congregation in the sanctuary to break for a few moments into dyads and to share about a time when we had taken an action that we could not fail to take and yet remain true to ourselves. We were looking for situations in our pasts in which we could not fail to act or remain silent any longer.
Then Madeline offered a second question: what is challenging us now? What challenge are we avoiding? What challenge or we living into? What is it that is calling us now? After a few more moments in the dyads, Madeline concluded with some sharing of her own about her faith/professional journey and her current work.