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.
“In Thomas’ Footsteps: Finding Peace and Purpose Through Radical Honesty” by Erica Lloyd
April 19, 2020
Second Sunday of Easter
In college and for a few years after, I attended a huge Presbyterian church that was wrong for me in all sorts of ways, but there was a gifted pastor who preached these wonderful, often alliterative three-point sermons that I loved. So, inspired by Greg Thompson, here’s my three-point sermon on our gospel reading today:
- The presence of peace
- Telling the truth
- Failure as formation
“Witness to Hope” by Marjory Bankson
April 12, 2020
Easter Sunday
How do we make sense of resurrection in this time of viral pandemic? How are we witnesses to hope in this season of covid-19? And what, exactly, are we hoping for?
I’ve been appalled at congregations that continue to worship together because they believe Jesus will protect them from getting the virus. That seems like a foolish wish-dream, magical thinking. And I’ve been inspired by the pictures of ordinary citizens in Wisconsin, who knew they were braving infection in order to vote – bearing witness as they stood for hours, wearing their facemasks as a sign of hope.
Peter and I know that we belong to the most vulnerable age-bracket, and so we wash our hands and wear bandana face-masks when we go out – to protect others, in case we are carriers. I have been going to the grocery store once a week at 6:30am for perishables, and we’re updating our wills and end-of-life directives. All of that seems realistic and doable, faithful and hopeful too.
“Flowers Will Come of It” by John Morris
April 5, 2020
Palm Sunday
I’d like you to close your eyes and get as centered as you can, inside yourself, and after a minute or so of silence I’ll read you a short poem by Richard Wilbur. It’s nice to realize, by the way, that today is evidently the seventy-sixth anniversary of the poem’s writing, because it’s entitled “April 5, 1974.”
April 5, 1974
The air was soft, the ground still cold.
In the dull pasture where I strolled
Was something I could not believe. . . .
. . . . Flowers, I said, will come of it.
[Read the full text of this poem at https://exceptindreams.livejournal.com/647275.html]
“What’s in a Name” by Peter Bankson
March 29, 2020
The Fifth Sunday in Lent
Last Sunday, when we came together to worship online, I had a surprisingly wonderful sense of “being in this together.” There were about 50 of us, our variety captured in about 40 little thumbnails, each one unique, each one with a different name. Our names call forth our personalities. The image of Seekers Church gathered Last week on Zoom is hovering in my short-term memory as I think about finding a Word for this week.
We’re heading toward the end of our Lenten season, looking ahead, in just a few weeks, to Easter and the resurrection. Resurrection has been a sign of hope for a long, long time. But given the dire situation all around us, the dread and the unknown nurtured by the coronavirus pandemic, it seems clear to me that our vision of hope could use a reset.
Our worship theme for this season, “How can these things be?” invites me to consider this week’s lesson from the Hebrew Scripture. In Ezekiel 37:3 God asks Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” And Ezekiel answered, “O Lord God, you know.” How can these things be?
Today we find ourselves in a global health crisis, in a situation where what we thought we knew isn’t ringing true. We need to see things from a different perspective. We need to call things as they are now and look for seeds of hope in unexpected places. Would a new name for our experience do any good? What’s in a name?
“Naming God – Lighting the Darkness” by Elese Sizemore
March 22, 2020
The Fourth Sunday in Lent
Today’s metaphor for God (Peter’s list): Precious Leaping Center of the Stuff of Life
Good morning everyone. This sermon is the last in a series of four presented by the Eyes To See, Ears To Hear Peace Prayer Mission Group on the topic of how we in this church each name and understand God. We have had several conversations about this subject in my group, including the issue of naming God in gendered and human terms, and how to best serve our diverse congregation, including our youth.
Today I would like to touch on the idea of how we “see” God and Christ, and how that informs how we see our faith.
I will start by asking you to close your eyes for a moment and try to conjure up a vision of what you SEE when you think of God.