View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Matt. 13: 9-17 This morning I come to you both full and tired. Full of ideas, discussions, words, opinions expressed and stories shared – both public stories from the podium at the Assembly and private stories from new and renewed friends and acquaintances. I’m also full of the joy of worship at Assembly as well as full of the tensions and laments expressed over some of the decisions…
View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Two week’s ago we celebrated Pentecost, remembering how the Spirit of God came like a rushing wind, equipping and empowering the frightened disciples to become instruments of God. In her Pentecost sermon, Marilyn invited us to consider where we have seen the wind, where we have seen the work of the Spirit. And she invited us to prepare for Pentecost moments of the Spirit by opening ourselves to receive the…
View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Pentecost Acts 2: 1-21 Marilyn Zehr It is another good morning to be gathered together as the people of God on this Pentecost Sunday. The wind is blowing – have you seen it? Our summer theme, which we begin today, invites us to recall times when we have seen the wind. In biblical and doctrinal terms we are being invited to notice when and where we have seen evidence of…
View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon Lectionary Texts: John 14:1-14; Acts 7:55-60; 1 Peter 2:2-10 When I was in high school, a classmate of mine had a lot of trouble paying attention. At the end of most classes, after the teacher had explained a concept at length, he would invariably ask a question that had already been thoroughly answered, often just before he asked it. Sometimes the exact same question had…
View Archived Sermons Listen to this Sermon On the Road to Emmaus Luke 24:13-35 On the road to…. This past week has seen two momentous “end of the road” events, end of the road meaning both reaching one’s goal and “the end” of your road. Prime Minister Harper had been on the road toward his coveted majority for five years, and he reached his goal Monday night. Many Canadians responded in disbelief while…
View Archived Sermons NEW!!! Listen to this Sermon Global Positioning Systems Psalm 16:11 John 20:30,31 Today is a Good day. It’s the second Sunday of Easter and so we continue the celebration that began last Sunday. Also this is a Sunday where we welcome new members into our congregation. For this reason I have prepared a brief sermon so that we will have time to hear and savour the stories that Billy and Alicia Good will…
View Archived Sermons New!! Listen to this Sermon TUMC Easter Sermon 2011 The surprising importance of Negative Space John 20:1-18 I begin with the line of a hymn – Christ the Lord is Risen Today – Alleluia Our Easter hymns record the witness of the first apostles as well as the witness of many others who have encountered the Risen Christ in one way or another throughout the ages. In keeping with our recent practice of sharing…
View Archived Sermons (Sorry, this sermon is not available in audio) Becoming Human: Shaped by Jesus Lent V: Shaped by new life John 11 and Ezekiel 37:1-14 Issues of Life and Death You know, every time I read Ezekiel 37: 1-14, the passage that Clay and Andrew shared with us this morning, its graphic depiction of bones lying in a valley reminds me of the kind of movie or program or news segment which needs to be preceded by…
View Archived Sermons NEW! Listen to this Sermon Cleansing Mud: Jesus’ teachings on purity and defilement Scripture Readings: John 9:1-41; Mark 7:1-8; 14-23 There was a bizarre 12th century Belgian saint named St. Christina the Astonishing. Already at 15 she was said to lose herself to contemplation of God, to the detriment of her body. Some accounts of her life say that she eventually starved to death. Her body was brought to the church for a…
View Archived Sermons New! Listen to this Sermon #Hosanna Palm Sunday – Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:6-11 As I prepared for this sermon, I realized that I’ve preached on Palm Sunday at TUMC before. I thought it was “just the other day” but when I looked it up it turns out it was in 1997! Anyway, I was tempted to just repeat what I said, but I’m sure many of you still remember that sermon, so I…