There is something about a mountaintop that stirs the soul. Even if we’ve never climbed a literal mountain, we know what it feels like to be lifted above the ordinary—those moments when God feels close, when clarity breaks through, when the world seems touched by something holy. Scripture is full of these moments, and today’s…
There’s a line in Isaiah today that lands with a kind of holy clarity: “Is not this the fast that I choose… to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them?” Isaiah is speaking to a people who are very religious…
There are moments in Scripture when God’s voice cuts through all the noise and confusion with startling clarity. Today’s readings give us one of those moments. In Micah 6, God gathers the mountains and the foundations of the earth as witnesses and asks Israel a piercing question: “What have I done to you? In what…
“Behold,” cries Isaiah, “listen well,For God has called me forth the truth to tell.”From distant shores the servant hears his name,A light to nations set with holy flame.Though strength seemed spent, though labor felt in vain,God shaped his life to heal the world’s deep pain.The One who formed him in the womb declaresThat glory rises…
Annual Meeting – 2026 There’s a line in Isaiah today that feels like it was written for a congregation standing on the threshold of an annual meeting. God says, “I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you.” It’s such a tender image—God not…
The Rev. Canon Cathy Dempesy-Sims In our opening collect today we hear these words: O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature I can think of no better time than right now to be reminded of the gift of human nature, and of our baptismal promise to respect…
Beloved, tonight we gather in the deep hush of winter, in the glow of candles and the warmth of familiar carols, to hear again the story that has shaped our lives more than we know. It is late—on purpose. Christmas Eve invites us into the hours when the world is quiet enough for wonder to…
There is a line in our call to worship this morning that feels especially tender as we approach Christmas: “Today we acknowledge our pain and the pain we have caused others.” Beloved, Advent does not ask us to hide our wounds. Advent invites us to bring them into the light. And today, as we light…
Advent is a season that invites us to awaken our spiritual senses—to look again, listen again, hope again. And today, as we light the third candle, we name that awakening as joy. Not the thin, fragile joy that depends on everything going right, but the deep, steady joy that rises from God’s presence breaking into…
There’s a line we spoke together this morning that has been echoing in my heart: “The Light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.” Advent begins right there—in the tension between the shadows we know too well and the promise that God’s light is stubborn, persistent, unextinguishable. And today, as we…
Advent is a time for the human heart to wait, while trusting God’s eternal time. That phrase from our call to worship and the lighting of the Advent candle captures the tension of this season perfectly. We live in a world that prizes instant answers, quick fixes, and immediate gratification. Yet Advent invites us to…
Today’s readings bring us to the end of the church year—Christ the King Sunday (or the Reign of Christ, for those of you who don’t like the king terminology)—and they invite us into a paradox: thanksgiving in the midst of judgment, hope in the midst of suffering, praise in the shadow of the cross. They…
