Sermon 3 Pentecost—7-A, June 25, 2017 William Bradbury Jeremiah 20:7-13, Psalm 69: 8-11, 18-20, Romans 6:1b-11, Matthew 10:24-39 Mark Twain was once asked, “Do you believe in infant baptism?” To which he responded: “I not only believe it, I’ve seen it!” We’ve all seen a baby dressed in a white gown get...
Sermon 2 Pentecost—Proper 6-A, June 18, 2017 William Bradbury Exodus 19:2-8a, Psalm 100, Romans 5:1-8, Matthew 9:35-10:23 What do you think when you see crowds? It depends on the context, doesn’t it? +If you’re working at Best Buy on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, you may think: I hope I...
Sermon Day of Pentecost–June 4, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 2:1-21, Psalm 104:25-35,37, 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13, John 20:19-23 I have a friend in Atlanta who says in 1969, when she was six years old, she put up a poster in her room that said: “Make Love, Not War!” When her father...
Sermon Ascension Day–Sunday May 28, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53 Meditation teacher Tara Brach said some years ago a friend of hers was attending an interfaith conference which began by asking the group how they wanted to refer to the divine or “what it is that all...
Sermon Easter 5, May 14, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 7:55-60, Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16, 1 Peter 2:2-10, John 14:1-14 I know some priests who when reading this gospel at funerals refuse to read the last line that says: “No one comes to the Father except through me”. They edit it out because...
Sermon Easter 4, May 7, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 2:42-47, Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:19-25, John 10:1-10 Where is the place you feel loved and safe, where your soul is at peace? For me growing up, it was my grandparents’ house on Missionary Ridge, overlooking Chattanooga. That house became iconic in my dreams—in a...
Sermon Easter 2, April 23, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 2:14a,22-32, Psalm 16, 1 Peter 1:3-9, John 20:19-31 Sometimes the translators just get it wrong: the word “doubt” is not used in this reading. Jesus is not telling Thomas not to doubt, because he knows doubt is always a part of faith....
Sermon Easter Day, April 16, 2017 William Bradbury Acts 10: 34-43, Psalm 118: 1-2,14-24, Colossians 3: 1-4, John 20: 1-18 Driving home the other day I was surprised that the lead story on NPR “All Things Considered” was not about the 59 cruise missiles we sent onto a runway in Syria,...
Sermon Good Friday–April 14, 2017 William Bradbury Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Hebrews 10:16-25, John 18:1-19:42, Psalm 22 The church, under the guidance of the Spirit, always proclaims on Good Friday the Passion of Jesus from John’s Gospel. On Palm Sunday we always read a passion account from Matthew, Mark, or Luke (last...
Sermon Maundy Thursday, April 13, 2017 William Bradbury Exodus 12:1-14, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Occasionally it is helpful for a person who feels stuck in a rut, to imagine she has all the money, time, health, and family support she needs and then to ponder deeply what exactly she...
