Sermon–Day of Pentecost June 9, 2019 William Bradbury Acts 2:1-21, Genesis 11:1-9, Psalm 104:25-35, 37, Romans 8:14-17, John 14:8-17, (25-27) I remember a couple of years ago when my granddaughter, Eleanor, became interested in what she called chapter books. She had reached the age where short books were not capable of connecting with the...
Sermon–Ascension Day William Bradbury Acts 1:1-11, Psalm 47, Ephesians 1:15-23, Luke 24:44-53 She’s 93 years old and her coronation as Queen of the United Kingdom was on this day, June 2, 1953—66 years ago. When she dies, if she ever does, her son, Charles, Prince of Wales, now 70 years old,...
Sermon Easter 6—Year C–May 26, 2019 William Bradbury Acts 16:9-15, Psalm 67, Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5, John 5:1-9 Way back in the late Sixties, my generation saw the crumble of the fairytales we had been raised on. We watched the Vietnam War escalating for no good purpose as our leaders lied to us. We...
Sermon–William Bradbury Easter 5—Year C May 19, 2019 Acts 11:1-18, Psalm 148, Revelation 21:1-6, John 13:31-35 Well, I mostly enjoyed my 50th high school reunion three weeks ago in Atlanta. One startling fact: of the total class of 149, 22 of us have died. I was talking to a classmate, a...
Sermon–William Bradbury Easter4—Year C–May 12, 2019 Acts 9:36-43, Psalm 23, Revelation 7:9-17, John 10:22-30 168 years before Christ, Antiochus IV, King of the Seleucid Dynasty in Syria, massacres Jews in Jerusalem, shuts down the temple worship, and the following year erects an altar to Zeus in the Temple where he orders pigs to...
Sermon Easter 3—Year C–May 5, 2019 William Bradbury Acts 9:1-6, (7-20), Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19 The Prophet Ezekiel, most famous for his vision of the valley of dry bones coming back to life, describes in his first chapter a wild vision that is called the Throne-Chariot Vision: He sees angelic beings,...
Sermon–William Bradbury Easter Sunday–April 21, 2019 Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, John 20:1-18 When I was 5 my mother bought me a small yellow chick on Good Friday, but early on Easter morning, I remember walking into my parents room crying, as I carried the shoe box in which my...
Sermon Good Friday–April 19, 2019 William Bradbury Isaiah 52:13-53:12, Psalm 22, Hebrews 10:16-25, John 18:1-19:42 Some people don’t have a clue about this day we call Good. I think of a couple in London I heard about years ago that was looking at some jewelry when the man pointed and said to his...
Sermon Maundy Thursday–April 18, 2019 William Bradbury Exodus 12:1-4, (5-10), 11-14, Psalm 116:1, 10-17, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Things are not going well at the church in Corinth, not well at all! As Paul says right before the reading tonight: “So when you get together in one place [for your communion...
Sermon Palm Sunday–April 14, 2019 William Bradbury Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14-23:56 Remember that picture from psychology class that at first glance is a vase; but then with some prodding from others, our vision shifts and the vase turns into a picture of two people facing each other? I want to...
