A City on a Hill?
Isaiah 62:1-5
I hate going grocery shopping. It is always such a hassle. I never have the time to actually make a list and I certainly never manage to clip any coupons. The store is always so crowded and the temperature changes from cold to hot, depending on what section I am in. Some people are too slow. Some people are too fast. It is just such a horrible experience. Memories make grocery shopping even worse. Each time I enter a grocery store one particular day 19 years ago hovers around in the back of my mind. My mother had dragged me to the store for what to me was unbearable torture. She cut my time with the lobster tank short and she spent too much time with the vegetables. I didn’t even want to think about eating rabbit food so I left my mother’s side to check out the bakery. I have always enjoyed frosted donuts with sprinkles. This store had so many different colors of frosting, white, brown, pink, green, blue, orange, red. It made this kid in a grocery store feel like a kid in a candy store. I visualized each donut that I wanted in a bag and turned to go annoy my mom until she would allow me to get them all.
The Man Who Hated Christmas
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey December 24, 2009 (Christmas Eve)
Text: Luke 2:1–20
2 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be regis-tered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, be-cause there was no place for them in the inn.
Divine Dirt, Soiled Hope
A Sermon Delivered by Keith A. Swatzel, II at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey November 30, 2009
(The First Sunday of Advent)
Text: Luke 21:25-36
“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
We Shall Come Rejoicing, Bringing in the Sheaves
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey November 22, 2009 (Thanksgiving Sunday)
Text: Psalm 126
Psalm 126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents
When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
The LORD has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.
Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.
May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.
Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves. —Psalm 126, NRSV
Ruth’s Story
A Sermon Delivered by The Rev. John D. Painter at Centenary United Methodist Church Metuchen, New Jersey
November 8, 2009
Text: Ruth 1:1-18; 3:1-5; 4:13-17
It is one of my favorite books in the entire Bible. It is a magnificent love story with re-markable overtones and subtleties that make it as rich and relevant today as it was when first told back in the post-Babylonian-exile days of Ezra and Nehemiah. It is the story of Ruth, and of her faithful and devoted love for her mother-in-law, Naomi. It begins where it will end, in Bethlehem of Judea, but it reaches across boundaries both political and social in its winding journey home.
Risen Sinners Come from Fallen Saints
1 November 2009
Rev. Terrilisa Durham Bauknight – Centenary UMC
Proverbs 24: 1-5, 16
Saint Terrilisa! (excited) Saint Terrrilisa (serious); Saint T (final) – now that has an original ring. Seriously, there is always that child-like thought that runs through my mind when it comes to All Saint’s Day, the day after Halloween or what it was originally know of as, All Hallows Eve.
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