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.
.wp-show-posts-columns#wpsp-4136 {margin-left: -2em; }.wp-show-posts-columns#wpsp-4136 .wp-show-posts-inner {margin: 0 0 2em 2em; } Several times each year, 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. “You see it. You feel it. Spanish moss sways gently in the coastal breeze on historic giant oaks. The world famous Avenue of Oaks forms a timeless corridor transporting you back in time to an era gone forever but never forgotten. Come experience history, beauty and grace. Come experience . . . Boone Hall Plantation.” I’m quoting, not from some antiquated advertisement hailing from Jim-Crow days, but from a current brochure which I was handed in the Charleston, South Carolina, visitor center last month. This brochure also features a black woman dressed in, I guess, authentic-looking slavery-era clothes. The expression on her face – you have to see this. It’s highly ambiguous; they must have looked long and hard to find, or pose, a photo in which this enslaved woman is neither obviously happy nor sad, which allows each viewer to imagine for themselves what she is feeling. I’ll leave it up on the altar and you can have a look. It’s kind of brilliant, as propaganda. September is for me a nostalgic time of year – a month rich with the promise of harvest yet full of reminders the carnival is nearly over. This summer I somehow got in a September frame of mind early, listening to Youtube recordings of the Australian music group, The Seekers. Do you remember Judith Durham and the Seekers? I hadn’t heard them or even thought about them for years, decades. But I stumbled across one of their songs on Youtube in July and can’t stop listening. On our Mennonite farm in Pennsylvania, we didn’t have TV or pop records so it’s not like I heard so much of the Seekers growing up. But we had crystal radios, and transistor radios were eventually tolerated. I knew nothing about the Seekers as a boy, yet they were in the ambience. We heard Island of Dreams in the Prelude, but there were so many more! Michael spoke on the prevalence of mental illness and addiction among those who do not have stable housing, his personal experiences with homelessness, and his gratitude for now having a place to live and a place of acceptance at Seekers Church. The full text of his sermon is not available. This morning we welcomed Eli Mgenzi Mberruka into a larger family than he has ever known before. He is now not only the beloved son of Jackie, but also the beloved godson of Debbie Barwick, Trish Nemore and me. And beyond that, we welcomed Eli into God’s family, specifically into Seekers Church, “a Christian community in the tradition of the Church of the Saviour, linked with the people of God throughout the ages.” Eli is now a part of that mystical Body of Christ. Over time he, with the help of Jackie, my fellow godparents, all of you, and the help of many others will discover his specific gifts that he provides the Body, the way in which he functions to make the Church a healthy organism.A Service in the Style of Taizé for Recommitment 2017
September 24, 2017
Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost
“New Heart, New Mind” by John Morris
September 17, 2017
Fifteenth Sunday After Pentecost
“The Spirituality of Matthew 18:15-20” by Ron Kraybill
September 10, 2017
Fourteenth Sunday After Pentecost
“On Being Homeless” by Michael Waldrop
September 3, 2017
Thirteenth Sunday After Pentecost
“Dedicating an Infant and Ourselves” by David Lloyd
August 27, 2017
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost