Sermons

In Search of Embracing Love

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

4^th Sunday in Lent - 03-14-10

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Twenty-five years ago, while attending a Clergy Workshop in Champaign, Illinois, I decided to take a walk during the after lunch free time. It was a beautiful sunny day and I was enjoying the warmth of the sun and the chance to be moving. But as I walked I became aware of an intense longing for home. A little surprised by what seemed to be such a sudden craving, I tried to figure out what was going on. It had been a little over a year since we moved from Ohio to Wisconsin and I missed my family and friends "back home", but that didn't seem to be the source of the longing. I missed my kids, but this wasn't the first time I had been gone for three days and I had never experienced this kind of longing before. The more I walked, allowing myself to pay attention to this feeling, the deeper it became, until suddenly I realized that it wasn't a physical home that my heart was aching to find.

In Search of ... Nurturing Love

Isaiah 55:1-9 (CEV)

3^rd Sunday in Lent

03-07-10

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

One day while he was out for a long walk, Sam Foss began to realize how hot and tired he was. Just as this realization was dawning on him, he saw a big tree at the side of the road and stopped to rest in its shade. As he was about to sit down he noticed a sign on the tree that said, "There is a good spring inside the fence, come and drink if you are thirsty."

Intrigued and very thirsty, Sam climbed the fence in search of the spring and gratefully drank his fill of the cool refreshing water. Then he noticed a bench near the spring with a sign tacked to it that read "sit down and rest awhile if you are tired."

As he sat down, Sam noticed a barrel of apples nearby, also with a sign, that said, "If you like apples, just help yourself." He chose a plump red apple and just as he was taking that first delicious bite he looked up and saw an elderly man watching him, a huge smile on the man's face.

"Is this your place?" Sam asked the man.

"Yes," he said, "and I'm glad you stopped by."[1]

View from the Mountain

Luke 9:28-36 (CEV)

February 14, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Jim Smith went to church one Sunday morning. He heard the organist miss a note during the prelude, and he winced. He saw a teenager talking when everybody was supposed to be praying and he scowled. He felt like the usher was waiting to see what he put in the offering plate and it made him boil. He caught the preacher making a slip of the tongue five times during the sermon. As he slipped out through the side door during the closing hymn he muttered to himself, "I'll never come to this church again! What a bunch of clods and hypocrites!"

Ron Jones went to church one Sunday morning. He heard the organist play an arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress" and he thrilled at the majesty of it. He heard a young girl take a moment during the service to speak her simple moving message of the difference her faith has made in her life and he was moved, almost to tears. He was glad to see that this church was sharing in a special offering for hungry children in Nigeria and he gave generously. He especially appreciated the sermon that day -it answered a question that had bothered him for a long time. As he left at the end of the service he thought to himself, "How can someone come here and not feel the presence of God?"

Caught by Grace

Luke 5:1-11

February 7, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

The end of the day, that's what it was for Simon, James and John and the other fishermen who spent their nights working and their days sleeping. That was my schedule before seminary, when I was a nurse; except for the sleeping during the day part. When I went back to work full time after my second child was born, I chose to work the 11pm-7am shift so that I would be gone while my 3½ year old daughter and my infant son were sleeping and at home to care for them during their waking hours. I would catch a nap when my daughter was at pre-school and my son took his nap and then head to bed when their father came home to take over the child care responsibilities. It wasn't so bad at first, but when my son gave up his morning nap and their afternoon nap times never seemed to be in sink, I found myself completely exhausted most of the time. More often than I care to remember I would leave the hospital at the end of my shift and find myself driving into my driveway -some 10 miles away- with no conscious memory of having driven home.

Divine Fingerprints

Luke 4:14-21

January 31, 2010

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

I love a good mystery. I love the process of unraveling the clues and discovering "who-done-it". Perhaps that's one of the reasons that I enjoy watching CSI and CSI-New York. I am fascinated by the process of discovering "trace evidence" and the search for fingerprints and DNA. It boggles my mind to think that with 6.8 billion people in the world there are no two fingerprints or DNA profiles that are exactly the same. It amazes me that everywhere I go and everything I touch I leave little bits of me behind, trace evidence that I have been there!

So I was instantly captivated at the workshop Tom and I attended earlier this month when our presenter, Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle, began talking about "spiritual fingerprints". In a book Rob co-authored with his wife Kim the concept is described this way:

Today's sermon consists of several readings and reflections with time in between for prayer and meditation:

Invitation to Worship

One: Please join me in our responsive invitation to worship. Please note that there are some parts for just the women, some for the men and some for all of us together. There's a season for everything under the sun,

All:   a time to do and a time to be done,

One: a time to laugh,

All:   a time to cry,

One: a time to live

All:  and a time to die.

MEN: A time for dying and a time for rebirth.

WOMEN:    A time for spirit and a time for earth.

MEN: A time for laughter, a time for tears.

WOMEN:    A time for courage and a time for fear.

MEN: A time to cling and a time to release.

WOMEN:    A time for war and a time for peace.

MEN: A time to talk and a time to be still.

WOMEN:    A time to care and a time to kill.

MEN: A time to keep. A time to lose.

WOMEN:    A time to be told. A time to choose.

MEN: A time to tear down. A time to rebuild.

WOMEN:    A time to be empty. A time to be filled.

MEN: A time to welcome and to send away.

WOMEN:    A time to complain and a time to pray.

MEN: A time to share and a time to save.

WOMEN:    A time to break rules. A time to behave.

MEN: A time to free and a time to bind.

WOMEN:    A time to search and a time to find.

MEN: A time to plant and a time to uproot.

WOMEN:    A time to be barren. A time to bear fruit.

MEN: A time of plenty.

WOMEN:    A time of need.

MEN: A time to follow.

WOMEN:    A time to lead.

MEN: A time to give.

WOMEN:    A time to take.

MEN: A time to bend.

WOMEN:    A time to break.

MEN: A time to hurt.

WOMEN:    A time to heal.

MEN: A time for secrets.

WOMEN:    A time to reveal.

MEN: A time to let go.

WOMEN:    A time to hold.

MEN: A time to be young.

WOMEN:    A time to grow old.

MEN: A time rip open.

WOMEN:    A time to mend.

MEN: A time to begin.

WOMEN:    A time to end.

One: There's a season for everything under the sun,

All:   a time to do and a time to be done,

One: a time to laugh,

All:   a time to cry,

One: a time to live

All:  and a time to die.

Refiner's Fire

Malachi 3:1-4

2^nd Sunday in Advent - Peace

December 6, 2009

Rev Nancy Pfaltzgraf

Are you ready for Christmas? Do you have your house decorated? Your cookies baked? Your shopping done? Your cards sent? Depending on when your family celebrates Christmas you only have 18 or 19 days left, you know. So are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready to celebrate the birth of the Christ Child? Are you ready to receive once again the good news of the angels, run with anticipation like the shepherds and journey with the openness of the magi? Are you ready for Christmas? Or is there some cleaning up and polishing that still needs to be done in your home and your heart? Are you ready for Christmas? Are you ready for the coming of the One who will baptize your soul with fire?

In the Dances of Universal Peace there is a song that begins with these words:

Sweep out the chambers of your heart

Make it ready, make it ready

To be the dwelling of the Beloved    

All in God's Good Time

Matthew 6:24-34

November 15, 2009

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

"What's the first emotion you feel when you think about money?" That's the question Susan McCarthy poses in an article titled The Truth About Money. Take a moment and think about it: "What's the first emotion you feel when you think about money?"

"For a lot of people," McCarthy continues, "it's anxiety. Money scares people because we have given it so much power in our lives. We fear making mistakes, losing our money, running out of it, being taken advantage of. We want money to solve our problems, and sometimes believe that to not have it makes us a failure. Money is a very good thing to have, of course. But it's not the key to a happy life."

Author and creator of the program Financial Peace University, Dave Ramsey echoes McCarthy's observations when he quotes statistics that assert "55% of the people in this country are always worried about money!"

Called to Love

2 Timothy 1:1-9a

November 1, 2009

All Saints Day

Rev Nancy Pfaltzgraf

It's getting to be that time of the year when I can light a fire in our fireplace. This is the first fireplace I've ever had and I love to snuggle up on a cold night with a blazing fire. But one of the things I have learned about a fire is that it needs tending. As time passes and the wood is consumed the blazing fire becomes smoldering embers and if you don't add more wood and stir up the flames it will eventually burn itself out.

Called to Serve

Esther 4:9-17(TNIV)

October 25, 2009

Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf

I love Esther's story; a powerful witness of courage and wisdom as she dares to answer God's call to use her gifts of beauty, cunning, patience and wisdom to serve God and save her people. It is set in the city of Susa then capital city of the Persian Empire. The story begins when Queen Vashti is dethroned and banished from the city because she dared to stand up to the king and refused to be put on display as a trophy wife. Through a long process Esther is prepared as a candidate for to replace Vashti as Queen. Because of her great beauty and wise heart Esther is chosen and joins the King's harem as Queen.