Sermons by Rev. Barry Turner (Page 3)

I Came to Bring Fire to the Earth

I. Backpacking A. One of my favorite summer projects over the past 10 years has been back-packing in the High Sierras of Yosemite National Park. I’ve had to put it aside the past few years but it is still bright in recent memory.  It would all begin after Christmas with careful planning, pouring over trail maps, for a 7 day itinerary in the mountains;  then, gathering our usual group of up to 10 young people and parents; getting a wilderness…

Inner & Outer Journeys

Self Examination in Lent During these 40 days of Lent we follow Jesus in the Gospel readings as he makes his way toward Jerusalem and the Cross. Every year in these days before the Feast of Easter, the church invites us to a season of self examination. –How are we doing on our own journeys? both the inner dimension that we experience in our inner lives, our hearts, souls, and bodies? – and the outer dimension that we travel on…

A Call to Transformation

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6,  1 Corinthians 12:12-31a Luke 4:14-21 I. A Renewal of the Covenant A. On this 3rd Sunday of Epiphany in Year C of our three year cycle of scripture readings we hear for the one and only time from the Book of Nehemiah. So, it may help to highlight it today briefly. 1. The book narrates the time of Israel following their return to their homeland after years of captivity in Babylon. 2. In Babylon, Nehemiah, a prominent…

Transformed into Christ

I. Images A. Once again we encounter these timeless passages for Christmas, not so much hearing the words, as seeing the images, the great and timeless images of this most lovely and powerful season. — — — 1. Every year waxes and wanes, the good and the bad happens to us and our world, and then fades into memory. — a. We are tempted to wonder, is life simply a circular cycle that comes and goes, lives and dies, our…

A Revolution of Hope

Jeremiah 33:14-16 Advent 1 – C 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13 I. Two ways to see the Apocalyptic A. There is a painting by Vincent van Gogh done in 1889 that captures the mood of the apocalyptic text from the end of St. Luke’s Gospel that we have just heard. 1. It is called, “Starry Night.” a. It’s his most famous and one of the most well known images in modern art. 2. The painting exhibits the bold colors that van Gogh…