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.
“It Is Well with My Soul” by Elizabeth Gelfeld
Summer
September 4, 2022
Today is the final Sunday of our Summer season, and for the past six weeks we’ve been exploring the theme of “Faith in Hard Times.” Many of you have shared your reflections on this theme during our Gathering Circles and in various smaller-group meetings of Seekers.
Let us pray:
O God, you have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you are acquainted with all my ways.
How weighty to me are your thoughts, O God!
I try to count them – they are more than the sand;
I come to the end – I am still with you.Amen.
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus continues a series of direct challenges to the people he meets as he travels toward Jerusalem, where he will face his death. In the chapters of Luke that we’ve been reading lately, he tells the parable of the Good Samaritan; he insults the religious scholars; says he has come to divide fathers against sons and mothers against daughters; and publicly breaks the law by healing on the Sabbath. Now, Jesus says that if we want to follow him we have to turn our backs on our families and our precious plans for our own lives, carry the cross, and give up all our possessions.
For insight on this gospel, I refer you to Marjory’s reflection for Inward/Outward, posted yesterday. (https://inwardoutward.org/clearing-space/) This morning, I’m going to turn our attention to the hymn we sang together a few minutes ago, and what it might tell us about faith in hard times.*
The Word from New Story Leadership
Summer
August 28, 2022
For several years, the New Story Leadership office has been housed at Seekers Church. Every year, NSL brings ten Palestinian and Israeli delegates under the age of 30 to the US from the contested land that is holy to Jews, Moslems, and Christians to learn from one another and to forge a new story of social change. This Sunday, Loia, a delegate from the Gaza Strip, told his own story of seven years of struggle just to get a visa in order to participate in this project, and of his passion for using soccer to help the children of Gaza learn the ways of peace.
There is no next available for this sermon at this time.
“Jesus, Our Food System is in Need of Healing ” by Aline Silva
Summer
August 21, 2022
In March, Seekers Church entered into a partnership with CreatureKind, and the Stewards affirmed the call of our CreatureKind Ministry Team, which is supporting different initiatives to strengthen the part of our community commitment to caring for all of Creation.
CreatureKind is a nationwide ministry whose mission is to encourage Christians to recognize faith-based reasons for caring about the wellbeing of fellow animal creatures used for food, and to take practical action in response.
This morning, Aline Silva joined worship at Seekers Church to bring the Word. Aline serves as the co-Director of CreatureKind, Prior to coming to CreatureKind, Aline served for over a decade as a local parish pastor of rural and farming populations in Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado.
“Progressive Christian Engagement of War and Politics” by Pat Conover
Summer
August 14, 2022
It is the prophetic task of progressive Christians, particularly those of us who have the good fortune to live in the United States, to care enough about the United States and the world to claim our full agency as citizens.
“Pilgrimage as a Spiritual Path” by Will Ramsey
Summer
August 7, 2022
Every time I think of a pilgrimage, I end up asking myself questions. Will the steps I take expand my traditions? Religious and family traditions come to mind, but I would also extend the question to rituals, habits, and routines. Can spiritual experiences alter or interrupt any or all these activities that can be so automatic we don’t even think about them? I asked myself these questions when Teresa and I walked the Camino de Santiago in Spain back in 2019. The question of spirit over tradition accompanied me throughout the 520-mile walk.