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.
“Preaching Ascension” by Ken Burton
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 29, 2022
Today is Ascension Sunday, a Sunday on which we celebrate the traditional Feast of Ascension. That actually falls on the fortieth day after Easter, which is always a Thursday, but since getting the faithful together for a worship service on a weekday has become something of a challenge, the celebration of Ascension is postponed to the following Sunday. The truth is that in recent years, here at Seekers, Celebration Circle has chosen to skip it entirely and instead work with the Sunday in question as simply the Seventh after Easter, an option provided by the lectionary. This is because even Christians who struggle to see the Bible as a fully historical account often have trouble with this image of Jesus saying a final good-bye to his disciples and ascending into heaven riding on a cloud. One view is that, given the assumption of the three-tiered universe, with heaven above, hell below and earth in between, it was necessary to find a way to get Jesus back into heaven. He had, so this story goes, returned to earth when he was resurrected, but was also destined to spend eternity “sitting at the right hand” of God in heaven, hence the need for the ascension story. From this perspective, letting this traditional Christian feast go by with little or no attention was probably a good idea!
This year, however, I asked fellow members Celebration Circle to include the Ascension lections and said that I would preach that Sunday, so here I am.
“A Journey of Recovery” by Joan and Doug Dodge
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 22, 2022
Celebration Circle asked if I wanted to share my illness and year-long recovery process. Some events I remember clearly while others I have forgotten completely.
Also, my journey was a journey that my husband, Doug, was on too. He is going to share his experience being a caregiver too.
“Understanding, Appreciating, Investing in Seekers as a Progressive Christian Community” by Pat Conover
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 15, 2022
The author of the Gospel of John wrote in a time when the Jewish Synagogue of Jesus had become the mostly Gentile Church of Christ. He put the following words in the mouth of Jesus. “I am going away and will come back to you.” Whether a spiritual or a body return, this passage in John, as for all the lectionary scriptures today, is focused on salvation on Earth.
Luke’s words in Acts were written a generation or more earlier than John, and presented stories about an even earlier generation, when the transition from a Jewish base to a Gentile base was a big cultural, spiritual, and practical challenge. For one thing, in Acts the worship settings were often homes rather than synagogues. Luke places this Peter story in the two Israeli Mediterranean port cities of Joppa and Caesaria Port cities are commonly multi-cultural environments. He presents Peter as having a vision. God says “…don’t call unclean what God counts clean.”
“Mother’s Day Memories” by Larry Rawlings
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2022
Larry spoke about his memories of his mother, and invited other Seekers to offer memories of their own mothers. There is no text available for those stories. However, Larry did provide the following texts of his opening prayer and his closing words.
“A Rising Song” by Jim Marsh
The Third Sunday of Easter
May 1, 2022
Jim Walsh spoke of his struggle to write his recent reflection on Easter, “A Rising Song” for the Inward/Outward blog where he is a regular contributor, and a moment of unitive consciousness that came upon him in the process.