Sermons
Most Recent Sermon
Celebration of Shared Ministries
Following Rev. Anne Deneen's reflection, based on the opening hymn, "Here I am Lord" as part of the Installation of the 46th Settled Pastor of the Annisquam Village Church & Celebration of Ministries, Rev. Sue offered these words: It was so worth the wait. I wasn't so sure whether or not we should even be holding this Installation this since so much time has passed since I began as your pastor. But, as I told so many families who had to wait to remember their loved ones, important events...
Previous Sermons
A Spiritual Revolution
How are we to hear these words from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians today when smoke from climate-exacerbated fires filled our air this past week? When many in Congress seem to be more concerned about stoking division than addressing our problems? When the map of COVID vaccination rates looks a lot like voting patterns in our last Presidential election? When our divisions threaten not just our ideas about how we are to live but our very lives?
Rooted and Grounded in Love
Perhaps one of the purest moments of love many of us are ever blessed to experience is the moment we hold a newborn in our arms for the first time. Especially if the newborn is our child or grandchild. It’s an epiphany! It changes us on the inside. We sense that we...
Holy Rest
In the reading we heard from the Gospel of Mark, the apostles have just come from ministering to people in the surrounding villages and towns who are feeling broken and desperate. The apostles find Jesus to tell him ALL they have done and taught. They are so busy that they hardly have time to eat. After listening to their stories, Jesus says, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ Jesus recognizes that the disciples need to stop, pause, and recover; to simply be with him and each other.
It’s Jesus’ message to us today, too – “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”
“Made Well”
Jesus invites us to tell the whole truth of our lives. He also invites us to hear each other’s full truth. And for SO MANY reasons – we often struggle to share it with God or with anyone else, even with those closest to us.
“The Story of America”
Frederick Douglass understood that our country can not only tell stories of our triumphs if we are to be honest and make progress as a people. Speaking in 1852 to an audience of 600 at the Ladies Anti-Slavery Society of Rochester, NY about the meaning of the Fourth of July, Douglas dared to tell the larger story of our country’s original sin of slavery, a sin that continues to plague us to this day. It is a speech that is frequently read in Black homes and communities on this holiday. As you listen to excerpts from his speech, with the help of David, consider how Douglas’ words resound…
Pride Sunday Sermon: “The Power of Love”
There are times in our lives when hope for the future seems dim or lost. When life doesn’t make any sense. When we feel crushed by our circumstances. When being who we are is under threat. Whether it is because of the color of our skin, our sexual orientation or gender identity, or because we or a loved one is facing an overwhelming health or financial challenge, we can know what it feels like to wonder if our lives will ever feel safe, whole, and promising. There are times when we look ahead to the future and simply can’t see how things are going to work out.
From Hate to Love
To walk by faith and not by sight is to hold loosely our judgments of others; to remember that we never have the whole story; to trust that God’s love can do something new in us, in the other person or group, and in our relationships. It’s leaving room for grace and believing that enemies can become friends.
Renewed in Spirit
Here we are. After 65 Sundays, at last, our church doors are open and there are people again in our pews and online! Wow! What a journey we have been on. What is the story you might tell about these last fifteen months? From a high level (a phrase our new...
Lessons from Joe
We pause on this Memorial Day weekend to remember him, those who died in service to our country, and all who died over this last difficult year. Whenever someone dies, especially someone as beloved as Joe, it is important that we pause to gather out of respect and love for the person. It is a way of showing honor.
It’s also important for us on our spiritual journeys to take to heart the lessons of those people, like Joe, who were truly exemplars of faithful living.
Our Pentecost Story
We come from Annisquam and Bayview; Lanesville and Rockport; downtown Gloucester, Wheeler’s Point, and Essex; Wenham, Marblehead, Lawrence, Cambridge, Boston, Norwood and Cape Cod; New Hampshire and Maine; New York and New Jersey; Pennsylvania and Ohio; Texas and...
That Our Joy May Be Complete
Rev. Anne Deneen, recently retired pastor of St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lanesville, served as our guest preacher on Sunday, May 16, 2021. First, I want to thank your pastor for inviting me to come and preach today— Pastor Sue is a dear friend, as are many of you, and...
Motherhood as a Spiritual Path
Have you ever thought of motherhood as a spiritual path? As a way to know God and grow spiritually? As an experience that offers important life lessons for all of us - women & men? Growing up Catholic in the 1960’s and 70’s, the impression I had was that if you...