On All Saints Sunday, Pastor Sally explored the first-hand accounts of near-death experiences as related in the writings of Dr. Raymond Moody and Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. The remarkable consistency of these accounts, spanning all ages and many different religious backgrounds (or lack thereof) provides a lot of food for thought. (Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15: 35-44,…
Dr. Shore-Gross was ordained as a Jesuit Priest in 1976, but left the order and the Catholic Church two years later when he and another priest fell in love. Thus started his career as an activist on LGBTQ issues and a leading thinker on both Queer Theology and Earth Justice. Dr. Shore-Gross has written a…
(Scripture Ephesians 5: 15-20) Pastor Sally looks at the defining complaint of modern life: too much to do and too little time. She offers a two-stage solution: First, learn to separate the truly important from the merely urgent. Then, focus on doing the important things with intentionality and love. She cites practical examples from her…
On her return from vacation, Pastor Sally asks what kind of people God seeks to act through and concludes that imperfect, fallible humans like us will do just fine. She illustrates this with the very human, very earthly Jesus of Mark 6:1-13 and the deep humility of 2 Corinthians 12:2-10. Superheroes are not needed in…
This year, we celebrated Pride Sunday on Father’s Day. Michael Meehan, his husband Jamie Cline, and their four terrific teenage kids have been active members of FCC San Rafael for several years. Michael preached this sermon in two parts: The first was his informal account of his history with religion and the challenge of finding a…
Rev Stokstad was our Pastor from 2004 to 2008. In this sermon she addresses the question of how people come to know God . . . the many different ways people express their experience of God and the different paths by which they come to understand what God want for them. She illustrates this with…
For Pentecost, which marks the beginning of the church, Pastor Sally chose to focus on Jesus’s introduction of the the Holy Spirit (John 14:8, 25-27, Acts 2: 1-21) as an helper or advocate for humanity. She drew the connection of this idea to the work of our church today and to the next big task for…
For Mothers’ Day, Pastor Sally examines the most fundamental precept of every major religion: “Love one another.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-7, 13) She notes that it is far more than a feel-good wish. It is the essential starting point in almost every human interaction. She illustrates with a report from a new mother and lessons learned…
Pastor Sally examines one of the most fundamental tenets of every major religion: that we love one another. (Scripture John 15:9 – 17) She notes that it may sound simple, but can be difficult once we step beyond the circle of those with whom we always agree. It is a skill we need to learn…
If you’re looking for a new church home, this sermon gives an excellent summary of what makes our church unique. Starting from the metaphor of the vine and the branches (John 15:1-8) Our Interim Pastor, Rev. Sally Train led us on a tour of the evolution of Christianity in the early years of our country.…