Second Sunday of Easter / Huguenot Sunday April 19, 2020 Acts 2 :14, 22-32 I Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 This April marks the four hundred and twenty second anniversary of the signing of an edict by King Henry IV of France granting French Protestants freedom from persecution. The Edict of Nantes was the first political…
Easter Sunday April 12, 2020 Acts 10:34-43 Colossians 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10 Well, I have to say that this is one of the strangest Easter Days I have ever experienced. None of us could have predicted that this is the way our Lent would end! It is hard to believe that only a few…
Lent V March 29, 2020 Ezekiel 37:1-14 Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 The story of the priest and prophet Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones is one of the most graphic in the Hebrew scriptures. I well remember looking through a huge Bible at my grandmother’s house, illustrated by Gustav Doré. I suppose I must…
Lent III Sunday March 15, 2020 Exodus 17:1-7 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Before modern plumbing and individual water supply to houses and apartments were invented, people were obliged to fetch their water from common pumps. These pumps were often the source of the outbreak of waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid and dysentery. Today, in those…
Lent II March 8, 2020 Genesis 12:1-4 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17 How many of us here this morning were born in New York City? Being a community of migrants presents us with special challenges and a unique perspective. Even if you have moved to New York City from somewhere else in the United States,…
Lent 1 March 1st, 2020 Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11 If you have ever found yourself contemplating the beauty of the natural world or of human relationships and asked yourself “How can there be so much sadness and violence in such a beautiful world?”, you are in very good company. Every civilization in…
Last Sunday of the Epiphany February 23, 2020 Exodus 24:12-18 II Peter 1:16-21 Matthew 17:1-9 It comes as a bit of a surprise to find that there are very few direct manifestations of God’s appearance or voice in the Bible. God does not let himself be seen directly or his voice be heard by human…
Sixième dimanche après l’Épiphanie 16 février 2020 Au sommet de l’Arc de Triomphe à Paris se trouve une sculpture monumentale en bronze doré représentant la Paix installée sur un char triomphal tiré par quatre chevaux de front. C’est parfaitement conforme au style classique qui s’harmonise avec l’Arc lui-même. Dans la mythologie classique –…
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany February 9,2020 Isaiah 58:I-12 I Corinthians 2:I-16 Matthew 5:13-20 In the early 1600’s, the Puritan colonists of New England thought very highly of themselves indeed. One of their leading lights was the preacher John Winthrop, who preached a sermon in 1630 entitled “A Model of Christian Charity.” He warned his congregation…