Past Worship Services (Page 10)

Past Worship Services (Page 10)

globe and cross

Truth to the Modern World

2 Corinthians 3:12 – 4:2—————–Luke 9: 28-43a February 27, 2022————————Rev. Patrick Mecham              Transfiguration   There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in which Harry stumbles upon a magic mirror.  When he stands directly in front of the mirror, he sees his parents standing behind him, smiling at him.  His parents are no longer living, having died when he was only a toddler, so he loves looking into this mirror and being a part of a real…
Spanish Springs Church Building

Healing in Forgiveness

Genesis 45: 3-11, 15—————1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50 Luke 6: 27-38 February 20, 2022——————-7th Sunday after Epiphany Rev. Patrick Mecham There has been a lot of talk about healing and health—probably since the beginning of humanity.  This has been especially true living through this pandemic!  But in recent years, there have been some amazing discoveries.  One of these is that our HEALTH is not just a matter of the physical body—it includes so many more facets.  One major factor in…
Spanish Springs Church Building

Those Who Trust in the Lord

Psalm 1—————1 Corinthians 15: 12-20—————Luke 6: 17-26 February 13, 2022—————Rev. Patrick Mecham Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Happy are those who trust in the Lord.  It’s kind of a basic concept in our faith, isn’t it?  I remember seeing a skit back in college where a student gets on an elevator and sees a friend and starts telling them about the new spiritual insight they had recently gleaned: TRUST IN THE LORD!  “Oh, my life has become so much more peaceful…

Fishing with Jesus

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11—————-Luke 5: 1-11 February 6, 2022—————-Rev. Patrick Mecham                                       5th Sunday after Epiphany One of my friends had an Uncle Ted who taught him how to tie a fly to the leader line for fly fishing.  He has a treasured memory of the passing along of that life-skill, and he has used it for years!  I personally find it to be a very helpful experience to explore all the important things in my treasure chest of skills…
Spanish Springs Church Building

Godly Love in Our Age

January 30, 2022……….4th Sunday after Epiphany 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13……….Luke 4: 21-30           I have a challenge for you.  Try to think of ways to describe the Christian faith and the Christian life without using the word love.  Just try it.  I know that part of the difficulty in communicating with others about our faith is that we have to use a word that is so commonly used to indicate a variety of things!  And, if we are going to…
Spanish Springs Church Building

More than a Sum of Its Parts

January 23, 2022……….3rd Sunday after Epiphany 1 Corinthians 12: 12-31a……….Luke 4: 14-21 Years ago (dare I say decades ago?!), Melissa and I spent a summer at a Presbyterian Camp on the slopes of Mr. Rainier.  She was a counselor, and I was the director, and we had a wonderful, exhausting, exhilarating summer!  Every week, we welcomed a new crop of campers: sometimes elementary, sometimes middle school, sometimes high school.  But on Day 2 of every week, we played a game…
Spanish Springs Church Building

The Fountain of Life

January 16, 2022……….2nd Sunday after Epiphany 1 Corinthians 12: 1-11………..John 2: 1-11 How do you feel about our Gospel reading for today?  The first recorded miracle of Jesus: turning water into wine.  It’s true that it really did make believers out of his first disciples—but why is this story important enough to be in our Bible? My mother was a teetotaler (and, of necessity, so was my father!)  Her mother belonged to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.  I am pretty…
Baptismal Bowl

Passing Through the Waters

January 9, 2022……….Baptism of the Lord Isaiah 43: 1-7……….Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 Anyone here who knows how to swim, would you raise your hands?  Wow.  It might have been easier to ask who doesn’t know how to swim!  Swimming is a big deal in our lives: we swim for exercise and fun, we swim to cool off in the summer.  Back in the days when I was doing youth ministry in hotter climes, our youth groups would have pool parties…

The Day AFter Christmas

Isaiah 9: 6———–John 1: 14———-Luke 2: 8-20 Elaine York, Commissioned Lay Pastor, Guest Preacher Note: Video is not available for this service due to church cancelation for heavy snowfall. The Day After Christmas December 26, 2021 Good Morning and Thank You for inviting me back to your church today!  I love coming here as I have quite a few special friends here in your congregation. Let us pray:  May God be glorified in this sermon this morning and may the…
Baptismal Bowl

Death . . .or Life and Peace

January 2, 2022……..Epiphany Sunday Romans 8: 1-11……….John 1: 1-9 (Isaiah 60: 1-6) There was a family that went to church every single Sunday, and, at the Sunday dinner, they discussed the morning sermon.  The kids were at an age where they could sit with their friends, anywhere in the church, and the boy developed the habit of skipping out of church and playing!  He would then stand near the preacher as people were leaving, and try to pick up snippets…

Humble Beginnings

December 19, 2021……….Rev. Patrick Mecham………4th Sunday of Advent Micah 5: 2-5a; Luke 1: 39-45 I suspect that many of you grew up in a small town, as I did.  And when you went out into the bigger, wider world, you may have been thought of as a “small-town girl” or a “small-town boy”—at least, when compared to those raised in a bigger city.  I remember that, when I was young, we looked down on kids from outlying communities that didn’t quite…

I Will Change Your Name

December 12, 20211……….Rev. Patrick Mecham………3rd Sunday of Advent Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Isaiah 12: 2-6 Much of the population of India is divided (unofficially) into castes—classes of people who have different privileges, different job opportunities, and very specific places in the society’s value system.  At the bottom of the social scale—below the caste system, in fact, are the people known as Dalit (often referred to as “untouchables” because touching one of folks is believed to make one unclean).  These poor people are…