Taking the Measure of Things

Dianne Reistroffer
Professor of Ministry, Director of Methodist Studies, and Officer of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

April 3, 2009
Amos 7:8
Isaiah 28:17
Isaiah 34:11-12

Let us ponder the plumb line of the cross, the towel and the basin and the washing of feet, the personal acts of betrayal and faithful companionship, and the God of Love who, despite the multiple ways we fail to measure up, walks with us and never lets us go. Read the sermon in PDF.

A Wilderness of Imagination

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 27, 2009
Mark 1:9-15

Sometimes along the straight and narrow way that Mark describes, we get lost in the wilderness. At times we find ourselves meandering in the wilderness, unable to find our bearings, or get any forward momentum along the way. At times we find ourselves at a crossroads, unable to resolve which path to take. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Dealing with Life’s Report Cards

Dean K. Thompson
President and Professor of Ministry

Philippians 4:10-13 (NRSV)
Hebrews 11:1-16; 32-40; 12:1-2 (KJV)

This sermon was preached during the season of Lent and on World Day of Prayer. Indeed, the heart of the sermon is a prayer - the so-called “Serenity Prayer.”

O God, give us
Serenity to accept what cannot be changed,
Courage to change what should be changed,
And wisdom to distinguish the one from the other. Amen.

Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Reading for Freedom

Susan R. Garrett

Professor of New Testament

Exodus 32:1-4
Galatians 5:1
February 22, 2008

This service in celebration of African American History Month includes readings and songs exploring the relationship between the Bible, religion, and slavery. The sermon, beginning at minute 22 of the recording, contrasts the hermeneutic of slaveholders with that of the slaves who sang the spirituals, and argues that when our ways of interpreting scripture do not move God’s people forward on the way to freedom, they are moving us backward toward the idols we once served. We are then “submitting again to a yoke of slavery”—the very thing Paul warned us not to do (Gal. 5:1). Hearers are exhorted to preach as one who is free and who, like Harriet Tubman, the Moses of her people, leads others out of bondage and into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Listen to the service. Read the sermon in PDF.

The Summons to God’s Hospitality

Walker, Elizabeth Johnson
Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

John 3:4-16
February 15, 2008

The parallels between the U.S. Civil Rights Movement and the summoning of God’s people to experience God’s hospitality are drawn in this sermon given the second week of Lent. Our faith begins with the God of Abraham and the promise of God to create a free home in Heaven. God loves and values each of us regardless of color or status. We are assured that all of us are participants in God’s mercy and grace. Listen to the sermon.

Staying on Track through the Desert

Sheldon W. Sorge
Associate Director, The Louisville Institute

Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
Romans 5:12-19
Matthew 4:1-11
February 8, 2008

The opening Chapel of a new semester coincided this year with the beginning of Lent. The Gospel reading assigned for the beginning of Lent is the story of Jesus’ wilderness temptation. In his sermon, Dr. Sorge draws parallels between Jesus’ time of preparation for ministry in the wilderness, and our own practices of preparation for ministry. He suggests that the ministry Jesus inaugurated by his resistance to the devil in the wilderness is one of reconciliation, reversing the reign of human separation from God and each other that constitutes the story of the Fall. This is the Gospel ministry into which we too are called, and for which we too are being prepared. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Drawing Life

Dr. Bradley J. Wigger
Second Presbyterian Church Professor of Christian Education

John 11:17-44
March 30, 2007

With the help of students in the Practical Theology class Dr. Wigger explores the story of the raising of Lazarus. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon.