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.
New Story Leadership for the Middle East
3 July 2011
The 3rd Sunday After Pentecost
New Story Leadership for the Middle East is an organization that brings together Israeli and Palestinian young adults to work, live, and share their stories with one another and with faith communities. Two participants in this summer’s program spoke at Seekers this morning during the time of sharing the Word.
“Faith Shared” by Joelle Novey and Arif Karim
26 June 2011
The 2nd Sunday After Pentecost
Faith Shared: Uniting in Faith and Prayer was a project of the Interfaith Alliance and the Human Rights Alliance. Seekers Church participated in this interfaith event along with many other houses of worship around the country this week.
At Seekers Church, our guests for Faith Shared were Joelle Novey, Director of Greater Washington Interfaith Power and Light; and Arif Karim, a Fellow of the Muslim Public Service Network currently interning with IPL. In addition to one of our own members reading the appointed Gospel lesson for the week, Joelle and Arif read texts from their respective religious traditions and spoke on what interfaith worship means to them.
“A Homily for JoAnne and Jill’s Wedding” by Marjory Bankson
19 June 2011
Homily for JoAnne Natale and Jill Joseph’s wedding
What does one say to a couple who’s been together for 25 years? You already know the pleasures and pitfalls of your relationship. You know where the sand-traps are, and what to avoid if possible. You already know how hard it is to be forever patient and kind; how hard it is not to insist on your own way.
When you chose Paul’s letter to the Corinthians as the text for today, I knew how important this marriage ceremony was for the two of you and it gives me great pleasure to offer the blessing of both church and state to your commitment today.
“Being the Body of God” by Marjory Bankson
19 June 2011
The 1st Sunday After Pentecost
In the reflection paragraph, Carter Heyward reminds us that God is embodied through us: “Our hands are God’s hands in the world. Our hearts are God’s heart in the world. God pulsating. God beating. God yearning and open and growing in history.” In other words, we can understand ourselves to be the body of God in this time and place…right here, right now.
After hearing the whole first chapter of Genesis read this morning, I would also say that God is embodied by every sunrise and glacier, every stone and tree, by every quark and neuron of the universe. Human beings may be specially equipped for conscious reflection, but God, the Psalmist reminds us, is bigger than that.
“Born Again: Stem Cells in the Body of Christ” by Peter Bankson
12 June 2011
Pentecost
Pentecost is a vibrant reminder that the Creator isn’t finished, that the Holy Spirit is constantly calling us into new places to take up new roles as part of the Good News of Christ. One day we’re clear about who we are and what we’re about. Then we’re asleep or mired up to the hubcaps in some dark place of depressed unknowing. And then, suddenly, things are different. When that happens it often feels like we’ve been born … again – birth pains and all! But how can that be? How can we go back into the womb now that we’re all grown up? And what about the self we’ve somehow left behind?