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.
“Trusting the Good Shepherd, the Guardian of Our Souls” by Brenda Seat
The 4th Sunday of Easter
April 30, 2023
This is the fourth Sunday in Easter-tide. For the last three Sundays we have heard the vivid personal encounters of the disciples with the risen Christ. But today and in the following Sundays until Pentecost we move from those personal encounters to passages using metaphors, parables, or recalling episodes in Jesus’ ministry that help make sense of the events of Easter and Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Making sense of Jesus and his ministry and the events of Easter became one of the ongoing missions of the disciples and followers of Jesus. We have to remember that the Gospels were written for this very purpose, to make sense of things, not necessarily as a chronology of Jesus’ life. In fact, John’s Gospel expressly states that its purpose is “that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
A Service of Prayer and Meditation
The 3rd Sunday of Easter
April 23, 2023
Instead of a sermon, this morning Elizabeth invited the congregation into prayerful contemplation of the painting Kitchen Maid with the Supper at Emmaus by Diego Velázquez (1599-1660), which was painted around 1617-1618 and now may be seen at the National Gallery of Ireland.
“Christ is Risen, Indeed. Alleluia” by Deborah Sokolove
The 2nd Sunday of Easter
April 16, 2023
Christ is Risen!
Yes, it is still Easter. In fact, it will be Easter all the way to the end of May. During this extended season of celebration, the scriptures the lectionary offers us tell several different resurrection stories and recount how the disciples struggled to understand the signs and visions that came to some of them and not to others. We will read of the rumors of Jesus being seen on the way to Emmaus and on a beach at the Sea of Galilee. We will hear the mysterious sayings of Jesus about being a good shepherd, about the many dwelling places in his divine parent’s home, about vines and branches and being one in Christ and one with one another, and about the Divine Comforter who would be with us always. In this long, celebratory season of Easter, we are invited to travel along with the disciples, sharing their wonder and confusion as they individually and collectively came to terms with the death of the individual they knew as Jesus of Nazareth and his resurrection as the Cosmic Christ, who walks through walls, appears and disappears at will, is only sometimes recognizable to his closest companions, and is still— somehow, mysteriously—both fully human and fully divine.
“Resurrection Now?” by Marjory Bankson
Easter Sunday
April 9, 2023
Did you notice the full moon this week? Remember that Easter falls on the first Sunday — after the first full moon — after the Spring Equinox? Unlike Christmas or the 4th of July, Easter moves around with the moon, calling us toward earth and its seasons. Out at Dayspring, the fields are mowed flat and Lake of the Saints is full, waiting for a gaggle of geese to swoop in and nest there. The land seems poised and waiting, pregnant with possibility and new life – but it’s not in full bloom yet.
At home, the news is grim. Full of gun violence, racial tension and climate disasters. Destruction and despair haunt the headlines, and yet we gather this morning to celebrate the possibility of resurrection, not just for Jesus long ago, but for us and for all living creatures on this earth.
“It is Finished” by David Lloyd
Palm/Passion Sunday
April 2, 2023
I first heard of Jesus in Galilee. People were talking about this man who was healing people who were lame, or blind, or had leprosy. When he met people possessed by demons, he commanded the demons inside them to leave. And the demons obeyed him!
So, I had to see for myself, and I tell you, it was amazing. There was something about him I’d never seen or heard before. He healed people and he told stories that made you think. When you did, you’d see a new way of living, like he was opening your mind and heart.
So, I took a leap of faith, left my work behind, and joined the small group that went with Jesus everywhere. When we’d come into a village or town a lot of people wanting to be healed and a lot of people who just wanted to hear his stories would show up. Jesus performed miracles so amazing if I told you about them you wouldn’t believe me. Groups of Pharisees would come to debate him, but Jesus knew Torah so well that sometimes he just left the Pharisees stunned into silence. I have no idea how everyone got fed, but somehow there was always enough. We always found a place to sleep, either on the floor in people’s homes or in a stable. We were living by faith in Jesus, and it was good.