Today is the Church’s New Year’s Day: the First Sunday of Advent. It also is the first anniversary of Pastor Jeffrey’s starting his ministry with us. (The official term for his position is our “settled” Pastor, but it’s hard to use that descriptor for anything in this crazy year.) On this double anniversary, Jeffrey reminds…
Pastor Jeffrey continues his discussion of stewardship with the true story of how a little girl’s gift of 57 pennies in Philadelphia back in 1895 sparked the creation of institutions that today impact the lives of millions . . .including Jeffrey’s own family.
For stewardship Sunday, Pastor Jeffrey re-visits a few of the many references to money in scripture as well as some of the realities of keeping the lights on in our little church in the age of Covid. The truth running through it all is that putting your treasure into something bigger than yourself is the…
All Saint’s Day, Halloween, The Day of the Dead, When the Saint’s Come Marching In. They all celebrate an essence of goodness within us that lives on in the hearts of others after we’re gone. In today’s service, Pastor Jeffrey explores this idea in both the larger, public sense and our private awareness of the…
“Don’t start what you can’t finish” is advice we all got as children (often from someone bigger and tougher than ourselves.) However, in this week’s sermon, Pastor Jeffrey notes that most of humanity’s great accomplishments trace to people with the vision and courage to start something bigger than themselves – – something they knew they…
This week, Pastor Jeffrey is taking a well-earned break. Our guest preacher is Rev. Cynthia Cochran-Carney, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael. In this sermon, she reminds us that both scripture and the natural world promise that the hope for a better future often comes in the tiniest of packages. Note: The video above is only the sermon. Scroll down…
Traditionally, this is an annual outdoor service at FCCSR with pets and companion animals in attendance. In this year’s Covid world, that’s not possible, but the spirit is real, and the video is full of pictures of lovable critters from blessings services, past and present, around the world.
For World Communion Sunday Pastor Jeffrey focused on the uniquely powerful role of a shared meal throughout all human culture, both religious and secular. Sharing food . . . and recognizing the larger meanings of that act . . . defines our humanity.
Drawing on the ancient story of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness in need of water, Pastor Jeffrey offers some thoughts about finding “water” for the spirit during our seemingly endless journey through the wilderness of Covid 19, climate disasters and toxic politics.
“The last will be first and the first will be last.” Pastor Jeffrey tackles one of the more challenging concepts in Christianity: that God’s love is not doled out in proportion to our good deeds or hard work. Maturity is understanding that love is a gift, freely given to all, as illustrated in the Parable…