Pivotal moments happen in life. Each one is an impactful turning point, signaling big change; you know the future will unfold in an unexpected way. Perhaps no such moment is bigger than the one described in Luke chapter 1, when the angel Gabriel appears before Mary of Nazareth and informs her that she will give birth to a son named Jesus. How does Mary react to this monumental news, and how do we react when God calls on us?
(Our own Mary) Pastor Mary Stein-Webber, guides us through this passage. And afterward, she reads “Gabriel’s Annunciation,” a poem by Jan Richardson that imagines this moment through the hesitant mind of Gabriel, who pauses to reflect before massively altering the course of a young woman’s life.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. Thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. Thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
Advent is here! We begin the journey to Christmas with the theme “From Generation to Generation.” Hear Intern Monica Holman speak on origin stories, starting with the the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of Matthew. She invites us to look to where we came from to discover where we are going.
Photo credit: A childhood photo of Monica with her beloved great-aunt.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. Thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
This week in observance of Christ the King Sunday, we did a special in-person service of singing and prayer that sadly, does not translate well to the online worship experience. In Pastor Amy’s closing weeks, we also had one last confirmation rite to celebrate. So today, instead of a sermon, we offer two brief statements of faith by the high school students we honor and support.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. Thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
Join us this week for a classic meditation on the good life. What does that mean in the context of faithfulness? What are the alternatives we often choose instead? What is the work before us in light of all that is God? Warning: This sermon was delivered in the midst of children and babies. To our delight, their little feet and voices herald their presence in our midst.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. Thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
This All Saints Day in our scriptures, Jesus takes on an absurd question about resurrection and heaven. His answer demands we contend with the God of the Living. Pastoral Intern, Monica Holman, delivers the message this week inviting us to see ourselves, even in our deaths, as part of God’s unfinished story.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We record it live each Sunday. You’ll even hear the swishing of Pastor Amy’s alb! We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. We want to thank our musicians and in particular, Brent Keast for all the hard work and investment in sound production over the last two and half years. It was an amazing run. And thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
This Reformation Sunday, we reach the end of our four month series on Acts. Today, the epilogue to the tremendous shipwreck. What happened to Paul once he reached safety? The same things that always happened and why this is liberating rather than stifling. Just a short reflection this week on a day when baptisms and first communions carried us through worship.
Dear Online Family: We are in a digital ministry transition. Thank you for your patience as we post Simply the Sermon during this time. We record it live each Sunday. You’ll even hear the swishing of Pastor Amy’s alb! We will keep you updated on upcoming developments. We want to thank our musicians and in particular, Brent Keast for all the hard work and investment in sound production over the last two and half years. It was an amazing run. And thank you to all of you for gathering faithfully in this virtual space.
Are you in a purple congregation living the political tension? As Pastor Amy prepares to depart, she humorously reflects on what can soothe our red and blue anxieties. Our inspiration again is Paul and his fellow prisoners. At long last, they set out for Rome escorted by centurions and soldiers. When the winter storms rise, he gives the guidance we all need right now: stick together and we’ll get safely to shore.
Dear Online Family: Last Sunday was the final full online worship offering for Bethel. As we let go of the podcast style of worshipping, we enter a time of experimentation and take new steps in our digital ministry. We will keep you posted on upcoming developments. While we are in this transition, we will be offering simply the teaching and sermon recorded live on Sundays. We want to thank our musicians and in particular, Brent Keast for all the hard work and investment in sound production over the last two and half years. It was an amazing run. And thank you to all of you for gathering in this virtual space. We appreciate your patience as we do this work and look ahead to a new era in our ministry.
After sifting through Paul’s trials upon his return to Jerusalem (Acts 20-27), Pastor Amy tackles a core question of faith: is God just? Reflect on the barriers Christians tend to raise to an accurate answer. What distorts how we see God’s justice? Is there another way to imagine God’s courtroom?
Strange things happen when Jesus is around. Even stranger when he leaves the Holy Spirit in charge. Pastor Amy mines the story of Eutychus who literally died of boredom. Or did he? Find out just how wild breaking bread over an intense Bible discussion can be.
Journey with Pr. Mary Stein-Webber to Athens. Here she lifts up the teaching of Paul who took compassion on a people who did not believe God could be known. Discover with us the grace of the One who wants to know you and throw out a lot of useless worry along the Way.
“They are turning the world upside down,” complains the crowd. This week, the holy disruption continues as Paul and friends unintentionally provoke mob violence, flee from cities, and threaten the order of the empire. It wasn’t their goal. But it is what happened as they preached the resurrected Messiah to new audiences.
Pastor Mary Stein-Webber leads us through another astonishing passage in Acts. It’s the familiar account of Paul and Silas being thrown in prison by the Romans.
But what may seem like a simple story of God’s power is actually far more curious. God, the great disrupter, has a deeper message to offer about captivity, liberation, and love.
Paul is out on his second missionary journey when he arrives in Philippi. Meet Lydia and celebrate the everyday, ordinary people that ground the church and ensure its future.
Place Finders: Word 10:25 Sermon 16:06 Prayer 26:44
Sermon Notes: For a great roundup on Paul’s early career and life in the early church, check out as usual, The Bible Project podcast. This especially informed my summary of Paul’s first missionary journey. Listen to Saul and Subversive Christianity here.
Amy Jill- Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler have one of the best resources to contextualize accurately the New Testament tradition: The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Tremendous study notes and essays.
Take a whirlwind tour with Paul on his first missionary journey. Then return home with him where he finds a heated dispute in the church. See how the early followers of Jesus knew how to do some things we are rapidly forgetting as a contemporary culture: interrogating our own beliefs and living with humility in our identities.
Place Finders: Word 12:23 Sermon 24:45 Prayers 37:25
Sermon Notes: For a great roundup on Paul’s early career and life in the early church, check out as usual, The Bible Project podcast. This especially informed my summary of Paul’s first missionary journey. Listen to Saul and Subversive Christianity here.
Amy Jill- Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler have one of the best resources to contextualize accurately the New Testament tradition: The Jewish Annotated New Testament. Tremendous study notes and essays.
Luke’s literary genius strikes again in Acts 12. We come to our final scene with Peter. Experience how his jailbreak coheres with promises made across scripture and what it means for the shape of our life in Christ.
Who should be baptized? That’s the question of Acts 10. It’s also the core issue organizing the New Testament. Ponder together the power of this question with Pastor Amy’s own reflections on how the early Christian commitment to radical community still influences her travels and encounters today.
After a two-week break, Pastor Mary Stein-Webber returns to our summer study of Acts. Today’s passage is a classic Bible story about a “good guy” and “bad guy.” But God has a different ending in mind than the typical Hollywood blockbuster. The outcome has such a profound effect on the early Christian church that its impact continues to this very day.
Place Finders: Word 13:04 Sermon 17:04 Prayers 33:03
Service Notes: The sermon includes a quote and commentary about the heart from Dr. Anathea Portier-Young. You can read her entire commentary at Workingpreacher.org. Also, the prayers of intercession include a quotation from Sister Joan Chittister in Bishop Murrary Fink’s October 23, 2020 weekly letter. Read the letter HERE.
Today we take a pause in our journey with the Book of Acts. We’ve reached a natural break in the action so let’s take a deep breath and look at what we’ve gathered so far in the first eight chapters. Is there any wisdom for us to apply to our current time? Yes. And the key to unlocking next steps? Start small and don’t over manage the outcomes.
Place Finders: Word 10:51 Sermon 19:22 Prayers 36:09
Sermon Notes: If you hadn’t noticed, I like to listen to podcasts, and long ones that feature deep dives on philosophy and personal narrative. I try to listen to a variety of perspectives. I keep the beat on old school conservatism through Jordan Peterson’s podcast. That’s where I heard the discussion on lying.
We continue our journey with Acts 8. In the wake of Steven’s death, the Spirit has broken out of Jerusalem and carries Philip into unlikely encounters. Hear Pr. Amy deep dive into these stories and challenge us to join the ongoing mission of Jesus.
Place Finders: Word 14:34 Sermon 25:26 Prayers 37:40
Sermon Notes: Discover an amazing resource for personal and group study and inspiration with Kristi McLelland’s The Gospel on the Ground. She’s the one I quote on the challenge of for and against. We will likely study her work in church this September.
