Sermons

In December we began posting First Presbyterian Church sermons as a blog so that those who subscribe can receive the sermon and a link to the audio file in an email. Click here to see sermons posted after December 11: Recent Sermon Posts

 

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Once Upon a Time: The Most Dangerous Season (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, December 11, 2011) I want to begin this morning with having us play a Christmas version of Name That Tune. I am going to play two pieces of music for you and first I want you to identify them and then we will have a vote as to which is the most appropriate Christmas music. Here is the first clip. (play Handel’s “For Unto Us a Child is Born” from the Messiah). OK so what is the piece? Yes, that is correct it is Handel. So here is the second piece. (play the opening theme to the movie Jaws). OK, so what was that piece. Some of you got it immediately. It was indeed the opening theme to the movie Jaws; a movie so frightening that one of my friends, after having watched it, could not only not go back in the ocean for years, could not even take a bath for a year. Now comes the second part of our quiz. Which of these pieces of music is more appropriate for Christmas? Let me see a show of hands. For Handel…most of you. For the Jaws theme…not so many. Well what if I were to tell you that I think the Jaws theme fits better because Christmas is the most dangerous season of the year?  Click to continue reading ….

 

Once Upon a Time for Real: A Word of Hope (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, December 4, 2011) They needed a word of hope. Nationally unemployment stood at 25%. Gross Domestic Product, the total output of goods and services had fallen by more than 40%. The Dow Jones had declined by 90%. The suicide rate had risen by 20%. Real investment in the economy had declined by 83%. Wages had fallen by 20%. And even the fertility rate had declined by a similar percentage. The year was 1934. The place was the United States. The event was the Great Depression. Many of you lived through it. Many of you were shaped by it. But in those dark days the nation needed a word of hope. Click to continue reading ….

 

Once Upon a Time for Real: Trusting in God (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, November 27, 2011) I was standing on the edge of the porch, my back facing outwards, my arms crossed and I was supposed to fall backwards with complete trust that the people standing behind me were going to catch me. It was probably 1970 and people were into trust exercises. This has been a youth group exercise and I had been one of the catchers, which was actually an amazing experience. People would cross their arms, close their eyes and fall…and we would catch them. Regardless of their weight, the shared strength of the group would insure that they never fell to the ground. But now it was my time to fall. Honestly I could not tell you what was going through my conscious mind at the moment I fell, but I can tell you what my subconscious was saying. “Who are these people? You can’t trust these people! Protect yourself!” I know this because as I fell my arms came out to brace myself, and like a missile I shot right through their arms. The ground hurt. Click to continue reading ….

 

Living Out The Vision (Rev. Amy Morgan, November 20, 2011) We’ve been talking over the last several weeks about our new vision statement. You all shared with the Session your dreams and hopes for this church, and out of that we discerned together that God’s vision for this church over the next 5 years is that “As Everybody’s Church, we commit ourselves to serving Christ by cultivating mission, inclusion, and community.” I am excited about this vision, and I hope you are, too. But some of you may be wondering why we need a vision statement. This sounds like something businesses do, not churches. Jesus didn’t have a vision statement, why should we? Well, I’m not so sure Jesus didn’t have a vision statement. Jesus, reading from the scroll of Isaiah, said that, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Sounds kind of like a vision statement to me. At another point in his ministry, Jesus said he came “not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” From what we know of Jesus’ life and death, it seems he was successful in following this vision. Click to continue reading ….

 

Cultivating Community (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, November 13, 2011) They wouldn’t leave her alone. They wouldn’t just let Heather find what she was looking for. I met Heather when she was working as a barista at the Starbucks closest to my office. I would regularly meet there with church members and visitors. After a while Heather knew what I wanted before I did. One day as I was waiting for my drink I heard her speaking about how hard it was to adjust back to the states after having served overseas in mission work. Having experienced that same thing when I came home from the Peace Corps I asked her if she would like to talk about. We began meeting at her place of work and I got to know her fairly well. Along the way I discovered that she was looking for a new church home. When I asked what she was looking for, she said, “An authentic community.” When I asked her to define “Authentic community” she had a hard time doing so, but said she would know it when she saw it. Ultimately she began visiting my church. I told my staff and elders to let her be that she was looking for authentic community and not membership on a committee. But they just couldn’t do it. Her faith and enthusiasm drew them in and they tried to get her to do all sorts of things. Finally the one thing she did was leave. All she wanted was community. Click to continue reading ….

 

Cultivating Inclusion (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, November 6, 2011) Steven was excited. His church was finally going to make an effort to reverse its slow but steady decline. Steven and his family had been part of a large mainline church which had slowly become a small mainline church. Over the years pastors had come and gone, some bringing in a few folks, others driving people away. Finally the new pastor, whom Steven really liked, had convinced the church leadership to create a worship service designed around a band, screens and much less formal style of worship. This was not Steven’s thing but he was thrilled they were trying. On order to publicize this service the church had created some wonderful mailer pieces that were also supposed to be given to friends and family. Steven, believing that he had some friends who would be interested, asked the pastor where he could get some of the cards. Looking directly at him, the pastor said, “I’m sorry you can’t have any.” A bit stunned, Steven asked why. “You can’t have any because this service is only for 20 and 30 some-things. You and your friends would be too old.” To this day Steven still shakes his head when he remembers the incident. Click to continue reading ….

 

Cultivating Mission (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, October 30, 2011) “Hello Prime First Credit. My name is Peggy. May I help you?” OK, how many of you know who Peggy is? For those of you who haven’t let me explain. Peggy, is not a she but a he. He is a bearded, middle aged generic eastern European sounding man who is working for this rather non-descript credit card company at a shack of a call center in the arctic. He is supposed to be a customer service representative. When people call, regardless of the problem they have, they are given either misleading answers, no answer at all or are simply passed from one customer non-service agent to another. In the end, not a single caller is ever helped. So the second question is how many of you have ever had to deal with a Peggy? You get on the phone, call the customer service line and you begin to wonder if the people on the other end are related to Peggy…that is if you can actually speak with a real human voice. For those of you who have suffered through this you know how frustrating it can be. Click to continue reading ….

 

Living into Our Vision (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, October 23, 2011) What did she really want? I have to admit that was the question that went through my mind when I heard my daughter’s voice on the other end of the phone. This was not the usual though I had when I knew it was her calling. But the very first word out of her mouth was, “Daddy.” My daughter calls me many things…Daddio, Dad or when she needed to get my attention and I was otherwise focused, “Dr. Judson.” But when I hear the word, “Daddy,” I know she wants something…and in this case she had left her homework for some class at the house and needed me to bring it to the school. Have any of you ever had that thought, what do they really want, run through your mind when someone begins a conversation. Maybe it’s someone calling on the phone who mispronounces your name, or a somewhat friend who calls you “buddy”, or a classmate who says, “You know I’ve always thought a lot of you,” or a coworker who intones, “You’ve always been such a help to me.” Each time those things occur it seems almost instinctive to ask, “What do they really want?”  Click to continue reading ….

 

TGFY (Rev. Amy Morgan, October 16, 2011) Rude customer service representatives. Continued charges after a free trial period expired. Warranties not honored. Credit card interest rates doubled. Botched Botox procedures. Medical malpractice. Bogus promotional deals. Shoddy home repairs. All of these complaints and many more, can be found on the website Customercomplaintdepartment.com.  It’s easy to find things to complain about, isn’t it? In Michigan, the weather is either too hot or too cold. We complain because people drive too fast or too slow. Internet bloggers complain about everything from political missteps to people standing in the wrong line at the grocery check-out.  And the church does its fair share of complaining, too. The conservative church complains that the liberals are ignoring biblical truth. The progressive church complains that the fundamentalist church is ignoring historical truth. People within and around the church complain that the church is irrelevant, hypocritical, and self-serving. Click to continue reading ….

 

A Better Way (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, October 9, 2011) So whose side are you on? It was a question that rippled through the First Presbyterian Church of Houston in the late 1980’s. Whose side are you on? The issue which was dividing the church was that the window in which they could leave the denomination with their church property was closing. Let me explain. Right after the beginning of the Civil War in 1861 the Presbyterian Church split between north and south. More than 100 years later in 1983 the churches were voting to reunite…yes I know we Presbyterians never do anything quickly. The major sticking point was property. In the southern church the church owned the property. In the north, property is held in trust for the denomination. As a compromise the southern churches had an eight year window in which they could leave the new denomination and take their property with them. So in the late 80s, as the window was closing, First Presbyterian Church of Houston, a very conservative church, was split over whether or not to leave. The debate became so onerous that people began wearing buttons saying “Yes” or “No” depending on their position on the vote. The debate became so personal that life-long friendships were severed. There was no neutral ground. One had to choose a side. Click to continue reading ….

 

I’m Kind of A Big Deal (Rev. Amy Morgan, October 2, 2011) I want you to imagine a foot race with three competitors. The first is Usain Bolt, the fastest human being. He stands near the starting line, stretching, warming up, practicing his breathing and his stride. As he jogs in place a bit, he leans over to the next competitor and says, “Just so you know, I’m kind of a big deal. I’ve broken the world record in the hundred meter dash twice. I’ve won three Olympic gold medals. I wrote a book. I opened a restaurant.” Usain’s competitor nods appreciatively and responds, “Good for you. But just so you know, I’m kind of a big deal, too. I’m what you might call a real estate tycoon. I have my own reality T.V. show. I’m #17 on the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. My net worth is upwards of two and a half million dollars. I’m Donald Trump. Nice to meet you.” Click to continue reading ….

 

Making It Work (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, September 25, 2011) So where did it all go? So where did all the grace go? I ask that question because throughout most of Paul’s letters there is grace abounding. In almost every letter he wrote Paul fills them with the love and grace of God. Statements such as you are saved by grace through faith; the promise comes through faith that it may be by grace; For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace; What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?; I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. Paul could be referred to as Mr. Grace. So where did all of this grace go in this letter to the Philippians. In the section we read this morning telling us what we should and shouldn’t do, lifting up the work of Jesus and then concluding with one of the most un-grace like passages in all of the New Testament. Work out your own salvation in fear and trembling. So where did all of the grace go? Click to continue reading ….

 

Choosing Well (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, September 18, 2011) Before you this morning are two doors; door one and door two. Behind each is a particular vision of the foundation for the Christian life. I am going to describe each and then we are going to vote on which one you believe you would like as the foundation for your Christian experience. So here we go. Door number one has at its core a foundation of blessing. Its most popular current proponent is the pastor of the second largest church in America with about 43,000 people a Sunday in attendance…. The second door comes to us this morning from someone who never had a website or a blog and never tweeted anything. He wasn’t even a very successful pastor or church planter. Though he founded several congregations he was usually run out of town after he got them started. He was in fact in trouble a great deal of his ministry which meant he was flogged, arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions. His foundation is a foundation of a willingness to suffer…. There you have them; door number one and door number two. Before we vote, however, … Click to continue reading ….

 

The Souls of Worms (The Rev. Amy Morgan, September 11, 2011) There was a priest, walking the dusty and dangerous road …. There was a Levite, walking the dusty and dangerous road …. There was a Samaritan walking the dusty and dangerous road …. There was a 22-year-old girl, beginning her second day of work at the Rogers and Hammerstein Music Library in Manhattan. As the blinds were raised on the windows framing the World Trade Center, she saw the smoke pouring out of the first tower. Click to continue reading ….

 

Living Call: The Freedom to be Different (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, September 4, 2011) It had been an hour. The elders had been arguing for an hour. My pastor friend knew it had been an hour because when the conversation had begun he looked at his watch and told himself that he would give them an hour. And what had they been arguing about? They had been arguing about where to put the bars over the windows and doors of the church. The church was an inner city church that had begun to be broken into on a regular basis. The burglars would break a window, open it and climb in. In order to prevent this from happening again the elders decided to put burglar bars on the windows. The conversation had gone smoothly until it came to the windows on the front doors. Should the bars go outside or inside? The conversation quickly became heated. Voices were raised. Anger was filling the room. My friend was almost afraid that he might have to referee a fight. Finally the hour ended, my friend interrupted the verbal melee and asked this question. “Is this really worth fighting about?” Click to continue reading ….

 

 

Future Hope: Being Jesus to the World (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, August 21, 2011) It was his first call. He was a seminary classmate of mine and was thrilled to be the solo pastor of a small membership church in rural Virginia. He loved the people and the challenge of preaching, visiting and taking care of his flock. One day when sitting in his small office at the church, one of his elders poked his head in the door to see how things were going. While they were talking it dawned on my friend that things were getting a bit dusty around the church and so he asked the elder if he would make sure something was done about it. “Not a problem,” was the response and the elder vanished. My friend thought to himself, what a great church. All you have to do is ask and things get done. A few minutes later the elder appeared at the pastor’s door. In his hand were a broom and duster. He set them down beside the pastor. My friend, a little taken aback, asked the elder what they were for. “Why do you think we hired you,” said the elder. Click to continue reading ….

 

Mercy for All (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, August 14, 2011) So who “done” it? That was the question. The year was 1900 and the New York City police wanted to know who dun it and why they had done it. Now at first the death was reported as from natural causes which would not have seemed out of the ordinary. After all William Marsh Rice was 74 years old and it was just 1900. But there seemed to be something amiss. Rice’s Houston lawyer, whose name you will recognize, James Baker, yes the father of the James A. Baker, became suspicious. He was suspicious because Rice had been in excellent health and the people around Rice in New York wanted his body cremated almost immediately. In addition and perhaps of greatest importance was the fact that Rice was worth more than four million dollars and had no legitimate heirs. Baker therefore encouraged the New York police to investigate further. And as they did it was discovered that Rice had been murdered. The only two questions were then, who did it and why did they do it?  Click to continue reading ….

 

Scare the Faith Out of You (The Rev. Amy Morgan, August 7, 2011) They teased her.  Not because she looked different.  Not because she had a Michigan accent in rural Kentucky.  Not because she came from the most prosperous family in the area in the midst of the Great Depression.  The Southern Baptist children teased June because she wasn’t baptized. They told her she was going to hell. They told her she wasn’t part of God’s family.  June never did get baptized. Her family was what people might call “spiritual but not religious.” They thanked the land for producing good food to eat. They loaned money and never asked for repayment. They sheltered those who wandered the country, looking for work. They worshipped at the lakeshore. But they didn’t go to church much. And they didn’t get baptized. Click to continue reading ….

 

Children of the Promise (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, July 31, 2011) If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is. This is one of the great truisms of life and one we might want to bring to bear up all that we have been hearing from the Apostle Paul about God’s love for us. We have heard that we are those whom God has adopted; adopted irrevocably in order that we might be God’s children forever. We have heard that we have been predestined, called, justified and chosen to be children of the promise; meaning we are to be those who work for the reconciliation and redemption of the world by shining God’s love in Christ into the world. We have heard that there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus; meaning God has promised to sustain us in this task of being agents of the reclamation of creation. We have heard that ultimately we will be victors in this endeavor. These are amazing and wonderful claims. The question is can we trust Paul and God that they are true? Click to continue reading ….

 

Living Call: Predestined to a Purpose (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, July 24, 2011) I want to begin this morning by asking you to use your imaginations. Close your eyes if you will and see a bright light. It is the end of your life and you are moving toward the light. As you enter the light you see a long line of people waiting in a large lobby. At the far end of the line are two escalators. One escalator is going down and the other is going up. Everyone appears to be lined up for the escalator going down. Without complaining they get on and descend into who knows where. Occasionally however you see someone going on the up escalator. As you get closer to the front of the line you see a guy with long hair, a beard and sandals standing by the front of the line. He ignores most of the people as they go down but will, every once in a while, tap someone on the shoulder and send them up. As you begin to realize where the escalators lead you begin to get a bit nervous and wonder if you will be picked. Finally your time arrives and just as you begin to step on the down escalator, the man taps you on the shoulder and points to the way up. Relieved you turn and ask, “Why was I chosen to go up?” He replies, … Click here to continue reading ….

 

Living Call: Hopeful Realism (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, July 17, 2011) Nicole had a lot to lose. Chances are few if any of you know who Nicole is, but you will know her grandfather, Warren Buffett. When Nicole was four her mother married Buffett’s son Peter. Peter later adopted Nicole and her twin sister. Nicole had fond memories of growing up around the Buffett clan. She would go to her grandparents for Christmas and other holidays, receiving accolades from her grandmother for her growing art talent. Warren and his wife put Nicole through college paying her tuition and room and board. Things were going well until Nicole was approached by Jamie Johnson, an heir to the Johnson and Johnson fortune if she would appear in his documentary entitled The One Percent. The One Percent was a documentary about the one percent of America’s population that controls almost forty percent of America’s wealth…of which Nicole and Jamie’s families are included. Nicole was intrigued and asked her father for his blessing, which she received. Unfortunately she did not ask her grandfather. Immediately after the film’s release she received this note from her grandfather. “Nicole, "I have not emotionally or legally adopted you as a grandchild, nor have the rest of my family adopted you as a niece or a cousin." Nicole was out. She had crossed the line. Nicole had a lot to lose and she lost it all including her family. Click to continue reading ….

 

Celebrate! (Rev. Dr. Ernest F. Krug, July 10, 2011) She entered the anything-but spirit world of a prison and taught violent criminals to perform Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This is a play about a man plotting a violent crime and its consequences. What is remarkable to me is not that these inmates found it a powerful and cleansing experience to do this play. What is remarkable is the amazing courage of Agnes Wilcox, who chose to enter the prison environment to help these inmates find a depth in their beings they didn’t know they had. One inmate, when asked why he comes to rehearse Hamlet with Agnes, first described the inhumanity of prison life. Then he said, “She makes us feel human.” Last Sunday, we heard about the law and sin–how we all make excuses for our bad behaviors. In a high security prison you can see the worst of bad behavior. This morning we will think about our own choices and what it means to live according to the Spirit. Click to continue reading ….

 

Present Call: No Excuses (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, July 3, 2011) “Why did you do it?” It was not the question I wanted to hear but knew was coming. I was standing in my parents’ living room next to one of my friends. In front of us were my parents, my friend’s parents and the over the fence neighbors. We were there because my friend and I had been caught doing something we should not have been doing; something that could have had financial repercussions for our parents. I will not tell you what it was, just that my friend and I knew better. Deep in our gut we knew better when we planned it. Deep in our gut we knew better when we did it. Now we were busted and the question came. “Why in the world would you do such a thing?” Had I known then what I know now I could have answered, “We are boys. We are ten years old and our brains are not fully developed.” But the reality was I had no idea why we had done it.  Click to continue reading ….

 

Ancient Promises: Life (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, June 26, 2011) They were everywhere. You could not turn a corner without bumping into one of them. You could not go to the market without rubbing shoulders with them. You could not go to someone’s house without being served by them. Slaves were everywhere. As Paul was penning these words to the Roman church, slavery was one of the most pervasive realities of the Empire’s capitol. Estimates are that one out of every three persons in the city was a slave. Some of the slaves had been captured as prisoners of war. Others had been kidnapped by slavers in remote provinces or on the sea by pirates. A few had been born as slaves of slave parents. Many of the female slaves had been left as newborns to die on the streets but were picked up by those who rear them to be slaves or prostitutes. And then there were a few who had sold themselves into slavery to pay family debts. Regardless of how they had become slaves they were considered less than human. They were often treated brutally and lived short desperate lives. Needless to say then when Paul refers to his readers as slaves, it was like a hard slap to the face. Click to continue reading ….

 

Ancient Promises: Two Transforming Equations (The Rev. Dr. John Judson, June 19, 2011) As we begin I need each of you to write an equation on your bulletin. The equation is g > s (I have since been told this is not an equation but an inequality…so for the moment bear with me). As you look at this equation please know that it is one of the two greatest equations in Christianity. It is so because g stands for grace and s stands for sin. What this equation describes then is the reality that the grace of God is always greater than our sin. I understand that while many of us are comfortable associating this equation with the New Testament we may not be so comfortable associating with all of scripture. So in order to make my point that g > s I would like us to return to our Old Testament text this morning. In it we read the story of Cain and Able. Both make sacrifices to God. Able’s is accepted and Cain’s is not. We are not sure why…it simply is the way it is. Cain becomes angry and rather than having it out with God as did Job, Cain takes it out on his brother and kills him. Now, our expectation of the God of the Old Testament would be that Cain would get zapped by fire and vaporized. However God instead, while making him suffer the consequences of his actions by driving him out from his family, also shows amazing grace by protecting Cain with a distinguishing mark. Thus, even in the outset of the Old Testament, grace is greater than sin. Click to continue reading ….