Sermons

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.

Jerry Kuester: My Spiritual Journey

September 02, 2001

The reason that I decided to be an intern at Seekers Church and with the National Coalition against the Death Penalty is that I have been called by God to work with Native Americans in institutions such as prisons and mental hospitals. In preparation for this ministry, I need experience working with Native Americans, which I will get while visiting them on death row.

 

Dan Phillips: Visions and Cities

August 26, 2001

Many churches are trying to minister to this city. Most are dying, are discouraged unto death, are empty of people except for the faithful few and are tired of trying. 50 or 100 now attend churches that had thousands. Churches whose pastors were theological leaders now are barely able to support a pastor. They often admit that they have no clue about how to revive their church. Others talk of starting new churches inside old churches, letting the old die because they do not believe anything can be done for, or with, the old organizations.

 

Carolyn D. Shields: Transformation through Healing

August 19, 2001

I remember asking my uncle, a Lutheran pastor, why we didn’t have a statue of Jesus hanging on the cross at the front of our church. He replied proudly, “Because we are people of the resurrection, not the crucifixion.” I took that in, thinking that somehow, Lutherans were superior to Catholics because of this distinction. However, when I was living every day with chronic pain, I often thought of Jesus’ wounded body hanging on the cross. Maybe it is to remind us that we are embodied people as much as we are spirit people. We are of the resurrection, but we are of the crucifixion, too.

 

Jeanne Marcus: Between Memory and Vision

August 12, 2001

Hebrews 11 helps us firmly plant our lives between memory and vision, drawing strength and guidance from both. It reminds us that we are spiritual descendants of a line of people who have repeated heard God’s promises and responded boldly. It offers images and visions that can animate and shape us. Hope invites us to create a new reality by acting as if those visions are now inevitable.

 

Kate Cudlipp: Generosity

August 05, 2001

An enemy of generosity is a worldly sense of “fairness.” My father used to shake his head when parable of the laborers in the vineyard came up in the Episcopal lectionary. “I’ll never agree with that one,” he would say. His need for fairness outweighed any consideration of the generosity of the employer.