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.
“The Resurrection and the Life” by Deborah Sokolove
10 April 2011
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
I am interested in examining Jesus’ statement,”I am the resurrection and the life.” For many years, I have wondered what, exactly, might that mean. Of course, I had some intuitions, but I never have been able to parse what it might mean for a person, a human being, to BE resurrection. How could Jesus BE life? It would obviously make grammatical, logical sense to say that Jesus is the agent of resurrection, or that resurrection comes through him, or something like that, but – until recently – I have been puzzled by this somewhat illogical sentence. And, no, I don’t think that there is any recourse in the original Greek. I checked. It’s just as peculiar.A couple of weeks ago, however, I had an insight that I’d like to share with you. It’s still kind of unformed and certainly untested, so I’d be happy to hear what you think after I try to explain.
“Where is our help from…? Stories of simplicity and surprise” by Jill Joseph
3 April 2011
The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Where is our help from? Recently, we have heard some things about where help is not to be found. On Transfiguration Sunday, at the margin of Lent, we realize that our help is not a static solution, not the booth on the hillside neatly constructed, but in the journey together toward Jerusalem and all it holds. And then we considered together the story of the desert temptations and we saw our help is not to be found in the conditional, in the “if this… then that” of evil promise, but in some quite unconditional assertion one’s own knowledge that ties us both to our God and to our history. Jesus replied to temptation not with a conditional logic of choice but with the assertion: “it is written….”.
“Living Water” by Elizabeth Gelfeld
27 March 2011
The Third Sunday in Lent
A creed is a clear statement of belief, and in my childhood understanding John 3:16 was salvation in a nutshell, simple and clear. Belief in Jesus Christ has been the central focus of Christianity from its earliest days, but what, exactly, is believed about Jesus has actually been quite variable, from the beginning as well as today.
Some thoughts on grieving by Sasha Adkins
20 March 2011
The Second Sunday in Lent
Our culture tends to reward stoicism and enable a collective psychic numbing. As people of faith, I believe we have a place in sanctifying mourning and creating ritual around it. Many of the most moving passages from the Bible are laments (such as David mourning his son Absalom, David mourning Saul and Jonathan, Job bewailing his misery, Rachel weeping for her children murdered by Herod, and the Israelites in exile grieving for Zion). Though some Christians argue that if we only had enough faith, we’d trust God’s plan for us and not feel sad, Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend, Lazarus before he called him back from the dead. Mary Magdalene, the only mourner left at Christ’s tomb, was the first to see him risen. Grieving appears to be a necessary and liminal space to move through between death and resurrection.
“It is written…” by Marjory Bankson
13 March 2011
The First Sunday in Lent
Why doesn’t Lent include the six Sundays before Easter? Because in the ancient church calendar, Sabbath always celebrates the resurrection. Even if Lent was traditionally a time of penance and sacrifice, Sundays remind us that Jesus’ crucifixion is not the end of the story. “From dust he was made, and to dust he returned.” God’s creation story continues in and through the Risen Christ, among us here and now. So, on this first Sunday of Lent, we read the story in Matthew of how the Spirit led Jesus into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. That tells us that this forty-day period has a holy purpose. There’s something important about this contest between Jesus and Satan. Matthew’s saying “Listen up!”