(Insert Expletive Here) the Box

Caitlin Simpson
LPTS Student Body President

May 6, 2015
Romans 12:2,3

Since being in seminary I have learned a thing or two about that box we call the pulpit.  I can’t, in good conscious enter into that box.  Learn why by listening to the sermon or reading the sermon in PDF.

(Note: there are a few expletives in this sermon. If you feel you are likely to be offended, please don’t listen or read.)

Choosing Life Behind the Veil

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics
February 21, 2014
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Listen to the sermon.

Choose Life!

Clifton Kirkpatrick

Visiting Professor of Ecumenical Studies and Global Ministries

Feb. 10, 2012
Deuteronomy 30:15-20

John 10:7-10

In place where we have so much and where we are part of the “empire” that shapes for good or ill so much of the world, our religious life so often seems to be captured by a survival mentality; by an uncertainty about our future; and by a genuine anxiety about the role of our mainline churches.

Our partners around the world would urge us to take a risk, to “choose life” – to put our lives on the line for a world where justice, peace, respect for creation, and community with God can be a reality in our time.  In doing so, we – like them – will find life, the life that God intends for all humanity. Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon outline in PDF.

Becoming the People of God

Frances S. Adeney

William A. Benfield, Jr. Professor of Evangelism and Global Mission
November 11, 2011
1 Peter 2:9,10
1Peter 3:8,9
Read first in Indonesian, then in English
Getting along in community can be a tough job.  Listen to the sermon

Building a Culture of Hope

Doug Gragg

Professor of Bibliography and Research; Director of Library and Information Technology Services; Officer of Institutional Effectiveness

September 30, 2011

1 Peter 3:15b

Life can sometimes be hell on earth because of the suffering we cause one another. Social conflicts can feel so intractable that we lose all hope of addressing them effectively and surrender to passive resignation. Building a culture of hope requires recalling the small victories over hell on earth that have occurred when imaginative people have enabled us to think differently about each other and to embrace our differences. Every time we enlarge our circles to include a wider range of difference, we push back the gates of hell on earth a little farther than they were before.   Read the sermon in PDF.

A Prayer to Begin With--Psalm 51

David C. Hester

Dean of the Seminary, Vice President for Academic Affairs

Harrison Ray Anderson Professor of Pastoral Theology

September 9, 2011
Psalm 51:1-19

There are snakes in every Garden of Eden. Things don’t always go well; people don’t always get along; words are not always kind and nurturing; and differences in color, culture, sexual orientation, church traditions, beliefs and world views are not always so warmly embraced by we who don’t always see eye to eye. Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Then Dawns the Bright Day--Philippians

Susan R. Garrett
Professor of New Testament Studies

October 21, 2001
Phil 1:3-5; Phil 1:29-30; Phil 4:2-3; Phil 2:6-7

When we idealize Christian community we place our own dreams above the reality created by God. We make idols of our dreams about what Christian community should be like, of our dreams of what Christians should be like.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

A Sermon on Genesis 4:2b-9

Steve Cook
Visiting Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible

September 23, 2011

Genesis 4:2b-9

The Friday service of Word and Sacrament featured a sermon on Genesis 4:2b-9.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

Fencing the Table, Dealing with Differences

David R. Sawyer

Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry

November, 19, 2010

Luke 11:5-10

People who are different, such as those with challenging sexualities or even those who differ from us socially or theologically can be thought of as inconvenient visitors, which is a theme of the parable of the “Neighbor at Midnight” from Luke 11:5-13. The parable can be interpreted as a clash of cultural or moral codes and it could be seen as a story of God’s never-failing love for all people, even those who knock on our doors at midnight. The parable could be seen as a critique of “fencing the table,” a practice of insuring that those who participate in the Eucharist are doing so worthily, is used as a metaphor for the community’s approach to inconvenient visitors. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

New Ways of Seeing, New Things Seen

Susan R. Garrett

Professor of New Testament

September 24, 2010
Isaiah 55:7-9
Mark 7:26-30

What would happen if we took our lead from the story of Jesus and the Gentile woman, and found new ways of looking at Christians outside the circles that we ourselves privilege? What would happen if we decided that there is more than one way of being a good Christian? What would happen if we chose to believe that there is enough grace to go around? Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

They All Come Home at Last

F. Morgan Roberts

April 28, 2010

Luke 15:11-32

How did we get from worshipping a God who prayed for forgiveness for his executioners to thinking that God, and we, should kill rather than love our enemies? Listen to the sermon.

Reflections on 9-11

Cláudio Carvalhaes
Assistant Professor of Worship and Preaching

September 11, 2009

Professor Carvalhaes reflects on the changes in the world caused by the events of September 11, 2001. Listen to the sermon.

Welcome! Taking a Chance on Love

Elizabeth Johnson Walker
Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

November 7, 2008
John 3:16 - 17, 21
Welcome! Taking a Chance on Love is a sermon that was preached in a worship service designed to introduce a project sponsored by the Cultural Diversity Committee at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary on November 7, 2008. The name of the project is “The Power of Difference and the Experience of Difference”. The title of the project and the title of the sermon express the tie-in to our new seminary “brand,” and invite a theological understanding of all sorts of difference and the promise of welcome.
Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Restless for Righteousness: How to Cleanse Your Life of Idols and Worship God the Right Way

Christopher Elwood
Professor of Historical Theology

2 Kings 22:8-23:23
October 31, 2008

When Hilkiah accidentally turned up a long-lost book of the Law in the temple, Josiah, the king, was so upset to learn how far the nation had departed from what God ordained that he tore his clothes. Then he set about a vigorous campaign of worship reform. This seems a good passage to reflect on as we mark Reformation Day. The Reformation was about many things, but—at least for those who helped build the traditions that would become Reformed Protestantism—“getting our worship right” was always a central task, though always fraught with difficulty. How do we get worship right today, in a time and in places marked by enormous cultural differences? Listen to the sermon.

Speak Louder Please, I Can’t Hear You

Cláudio Carvalhaes
Assistant Professor of Worship and Preaching

Genesis 11: 1-9
Acts 2: 1-13
March 5, 2008

This is where we live: between Babel and Pentecost, at, around and within many borders. We all live between Babel and Pentecost. But how are we to construct the city of God within the city of humankind? What shall we do to speak and to hear God’s language? How can we move from Babel from Pentecost? Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Living with Diversity: A Lesson From Peter

David C. Hester
Dean of the Seminary
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Harrison Ray Anderson Professor of Ministry

May 4, 2007
Acts 11: 1-18
John 13: 1-35

How are we to live into the diversity that we want in our community? Dean Hester addresses this emotionally charged issue as we move from the easy beginning of good intentions to the hard road of loving the "inconvenient differences" among us. Listen to the sermon.