First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

Isaiah 42:5-9, Matthew 3:13-17 January 12, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Isaiah 42:5-9 5 Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it: 6 I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, 7 to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. 8 I am the Lord, that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols. 9 See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them. Matthew’s gospel is primarily concerned with answering a central question of Christianity: who is this Jesus? For Matthew, the question is the hinge of faith – who d

"Journey of the Magi" byStefano de Giovanni Sassetta January 5, 2014 Isaiah 60:1-6, Matthew 2: 1-12 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Isaiah 60:1-6 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.  2  For darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you.  3  Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.  4  Lift up your eyes and look around; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from far away, and your daughters shall be carried on their nurses' arms.  5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and rejoice,  because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.  6  A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They

Isaiah 9:2-7 Luke 2: 1-20 December 24, 2013 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry When you came in this evening, I hope you noticed the nativity sets on display. They’re out there in the narthex, the big room out there beyond the sanctuary. They’re on the tables, and on the shelves, all sorts of nativity sets from all different homes. Did you have a nativity set in your home, when you were growing up? (It’s okay, nothing bad will happen if you nod or raise your hand.) Do you have one on display in your home now? I have a LOT of nativity sets. A collection of them. I didn’t mean to collect them. It just happened. There is a website that every December posts weird nativity sets – homemade clay mangers, badly carved wooden holy families, nativity sets from all kinds of places. But they are not lovely. They’re just weird. Like, they’re made up of dogs, or bears, or ducks, or cowboys and cowgirls. Or  they’re made of meat. I don’t collect those.