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.
“Epiphany: A Season of Call” by Marjory Bankson
Epiphany
January 8, 2023
Today we celebrate Epiphany, a sudden insight or flash of intuitive understanding according to Webster’s dictionary. I pray that today will bring such an epiphany for you.
On the liturgical calendar, Epiphany or 12th night, marks the end of Jesus’ birth story — signaled by the visit of wise men from afar. In many cultures, 12th Night, or 3 Kings Day, is the real celebration that involves the exchange of presents, reserving Christmas for the birth of the Christchild.
I grew up thinking that Epiphany was when we took down Christmas decorations, because we always included the wise men in our Christmas celebration two weeks earlier. Now I see Epiphany as a season of call!
A Reading of “Christ Climbed Down”
Christmastide
January 1, 2023
A portion of Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s poem, “Christ Climbed Down” was used as the reflection paragraph at the beginning of each of the four weeks of Advent. This morning, Dave led us in a reading and discussion of the full poem, which was first published in 1958 as part of Ferlinghetti’s collection A Coney Island of the Mind. The full poem may be read at https://www.coloradoindependent.com/2007/12/24/seasonal-poetry-christ-climbed-down/
“Immanuel” by Margreta Silverstone
Advent 4
December 18, 2022
Good morning. I want to start with a poem which I heard on a recent Poetry Unbound podcast, written by Naomi Shihab Nye. .. [the full text of this poem may be found at https://onbeing.org/programs/naomi-shihab-nye-i-feel-sorry-for-jesus/]
I Feel Sorry for Jesus
People won’t leave Him alone.
I know He said, wherever two or more
are gathered in my name…
but I’ll bet some days He regrets it….…..
….And that makes me feel like being silent
for Him, you know? A secret pouch
of listening. You won’t hear me
mention this again
And, like the poem, I find standing here and trying to speak for or of Jesus daunting. Take what I say if it works. Leave it if it doesn’t. The warmth of the sun can still warm both our bodies in the bright light of God’s love for this earth, this world, you.
“Waking Up to Life” by Peter Bankson
Advent 3
December 11, 2022
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and softly stole away into
some anonymous Mary’s womb again
where in the darkest night
of everybody’s anonymous soul
He awaits again
an unimaginable
and impossibly
Immaculate Reconception
the very craziest
of Second Comings
Lawrence Ferlinghetti, “Christ Climbed Down” from A Coney Island of the Mind
This Advent season, we’ve been invited to focus on waiting for the birth of Jesus from a slightly different perspective: “Waking Up.” That perspective, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s reference to “an unimaginable and impossibly Immaculate Re-conception” have led me to look at the narrative of Jesus’ arrival, in each of us, as some unimaginable re-conception. If Christ comes again, but in some new way, what might we expect?
“Judgment and Hope” by Elizabeth Gelfeld
Advent 2
December 4, 2022
Here we are, in Advent, again. We were in Advent a year ago, and the year before that, and on and on through all the years past. Advent begins a new year in the Christian calendar, but to me it feels different from the new year on January 1st, or the start of the school year, or even the Jewish new year, celebrated on Rosh Hashanah in the fall. Those new years to me feel like the turning of a page, the end of something old and the start of something new and unknown. But Advent seems not so much a turning toward something new as a returning to something very old. For some of us, this is exciting and joyful, even if it involves a lot of work. For others, it’s a struggle, especially if we are grieving a loss – loss of a loved one, a job, a home, a sense of purpose, a dream, maybe even the loss of hope.