Sermon – Loving is Hard (Sometimes)

A Sermon by Rev. Whitney Bruno – Dec. 18, 2022 – for LCUCPC - Isaiah 7: 10-16 ,  Matthew 1: 18-25 Listen or watch this service here Loving is hard sometimes. Yes - it's quoting a song. But I think in songs! And it is true. Relationships are hard. Loving is hard. Being community is …

Call to Worship: Comfort

Based on Isaiah 66:10-14 One: Rejoice! Be glad! All of you who feel mournful Many: Stressed out. Powerless. Sad. Angry. One: Rejoice! For thus says the Lord: You shall be nursed and carried. Many: We shall be bounced on a knee like a baby. One: God says: As a mother comforts her child, so I …

Do Not Fear

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:26-38 Do not be afraid. This is a strange greeting, isn’t it? Yet this is how Gabriel, in the Gospel of Luke, says hello to Mary and Zechariah both. Do not be afraid – this is the greeting the Angels give the shepherds. “Each word of assurance offered by the …

Testify to the Light

Isaiah 61:1-4; 8-11 John 1:6-8, 19-28 Isaiah sounds as if he is writing a song of joy... saying things like "Good news to the oppressed!" and "I will greatly rejoice!" but Isaiah is actually writing a lament. A song of sorrow. You see, returning is not restoration. The exiles from Babylon have returned to Jerusalem …

One Thing I Do Know

John 9:1-41 Ephesians 5:8-14 Why do bad things happen? It's something we ask, again and again. And the people of the Bible ask it again and again. And just like we come to different conclusions, so, too, do our mothers and fathers in the faith. The most common conclusion back then, and today, is that …