Sermons

Deborah Sokolove

October 6, 2024

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

It is the season of Recommitment, but we have not been talking about that much. Last week, Paul began his brief sermon with a reminder that our commitment statements as Seekers include a promise to “work for the ending of all war, public and private.” Today, I want to focus on another of our promises.

September 29, 2024

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

This is the fourth Sunday of the Seekers recommitment season, a time when we intentionally re-explore our commitment to Christ and to Seekers Church.  This morning and every Sunday, as an integral part of our worship, we recommitted ourselves to “work to end all war, violence and discord.” Today, we have a unique opportunity to further explore that commitment.  We have an opportunity to ask ourselves: Do we take that commitment to heart?  Do we take it seriously?  Are we really “committed” to it?  And if so, how do we live out that commitment in our individual and corporate lives?

September 22, 2024

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

From time to time Seekers Church takes time out from its regular preaching schedule for a service of chant, prayer and reflection modeled on the worship of the Taizé Community in France. This Sunday was one such time. Repeating the chants together until they die away into the silence provides rest for our world-weary spirits as well as an opportunity for individual reflection on our faith journeys. As we joined in spirit with the monks at Taizé, we were nourished by their faithfulness as well as by their music. Our chants were accompanied and supported by Glen Yakushiji at the piano.

September 15, 2024

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

At the June Women’s Breakfast, we got to talking about artificial intelligence and I shared that I was using an artificial intelligence program, ChatGPT, to provide some ideas for parts of a mystery novel I was writing. In the process, I have become quite enamored of the app.  Later someone at the breakfast mentioned that it was about time for me to give a sermon. Someone, I don’t remember who (maybe me?) put the two together and said, “What about using Chat GPT to write a sermon.” So, I thought I would, just for fun, try doing just that. I hope you enjoy this experiment in writing a sermon with AI. There’s a lot about Wisdom (with a capital W) in today’s lectionary readings. These were my instructions to ChatGPT: “Wisdom is portrayed as a woman in the New Testament and the Hebrew scriptures. Write a sermon about this that reflects a feminist point of view and include the idea of God, Wisdom, and the Word as feminine.  Also include the idea of God as a mother.” I did a lot of editing of the AI text to make the sermon sound more like me and added some of my own reflections on mothers and the divine feminine as well as thoughts about recommitment since this is Recommitment Season, but most of the ideas in the following sermon were provided by ChatGPT.

September 8, 2024

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

I am Open, I am Opened

It’s September, and we can feel the coolness of the coming Autumn season in the air this morning.  I love the promise of change that I always sense as Autumn approaches.  From Jeanne Marcus I understand you all are entering into a season of recommitment at Seekers, in a year with the theme of Being Opened.   

I take note that the phrase is “Being Opened” (not “Being Open).  However, I would like to add my perspective, which is that to really be opened and to take in that experience, consent is required.  Whatever internal resistance that may be present must yield.   We say “yes” somewhere along the way – for me, this is the essence of faith and committing to the inward work a spiritual journey.