Sermon 4 Epiphany—B January 28, 2018 William Bradbury Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Psalm 111, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13, Mark 1:21-28 The teaching method of rabbis, at the time of Jesus and now is a beautiful thing: a rabbi will talk about scripture by using the teaching of other rabbis who have had different things to say...

Sermon 3 Epiphany—B January 21, 2018 William Bradbury Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalm 62:6-14, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20 The Book of Jonah is a parable, not a history, about God’s call and our response: The parable opens with God’s first call to Jonah: Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah saying, 2 “Go at once to...

Sermon 2 Epiphany-Year B January 14, 2018 William Bradbury 1 Samuel 3:1-20, Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20, John 1:43-51 Back in the day I loved riding roller coasters. As a kid it is easy to imagine that I’m on this wild, scary ride, even though it is on a track and does...

Sermon 1 Epiphany January 7, 2018 William Bradbury Genesis 1:1-5, Psalm 29, Acts 19:1-7, Mark 1:4-11 Paul shows up in Ephesus, a great port city on the Aegean Sea, and finds some followers of Jesus. He’s looking for transforming worship, but he doesn’t find it. Was the worship flat and boring? Was it...

Sermon Christmas 1 December 31, 2017 William Bradbury John 1:1-18 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” There is much speculation about what John means when he refers to the Word that was in the beginning with God, the Word that was God and that became flesh and...

Sermon Christmas Eve December 24, 2017 William Bradbury Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-20, Luke 2:1-20 I’ve only been to Bethlehem once, in August 1973, the summer after I graduated from the University of Georgia. My girlfriend and I made the 6 mile walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem and the 4th century Church...

Sermon Advent 4—C December 24, 2017 William Bradbury 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16, Romans 16:25-27, Luke 1:26-38 The gospel story today is called the Annunciation: the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the young teenage girl, 13-14 years old is read by the Church every March 25th—9 months before December 25. It is the...

Sermon Advent Three-B December 17, 2017 William Bradbury Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, Psalm 126, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24, John 1:6-8, 19-28 Unlike my sister, who is an attorney in Atlanta, I was never tempted to go to Law School. But I am a big fan of courtroom dramas portrayed in fiction and...

Sermon Advent 2—Year B December 10, 2017 William Bradbury Isaiah 40:1-11, Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13, 2 Peter 3:8-15a, Mark 1:1-8 I am told that George Buttrick, the famous Harvard Divinity school professor of preaching in the mid-20th century, used to say that every preacher, just before entering the pulpit, should think, “I have wonderful...

Sermon Advent One—Year B December 3, 2017 William Bradbury Isaiah 64:1-9, Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18, 1 Corinthians 1:3-9, Mark 13:24-37 Today we start a new year in the church, so it is appropriate for the gospel reading to draw our attention away from trivial things, so we can face important things:...