First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

Colossians 3:12-17 November 22, 2105 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Colossians 3:12-17 As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Every now and then, I think I am very clever, and then I discover that...

Mark 12:38-44 November 8, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry It is the last week of Jesus’ life before the crucifixion. He has gone into Jerusalem, welcomed with shouts of “Hosanna!” Now, he is continuing his work, teaching and healing, observing the life of the city and the religious people around him. As we’ve heard in the last few weeks, Jesus has had several confrontations with the religious authorities. Then, just last week, we heard about a friendly and respectful dialogue with one of them, a scribe, a teacher of the law. Now, Jesus and his disciples are in the synagogue, and he is watching people come and go. When they leave the synagogue, their next conversation will be this: “As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’” That will come...

Mark 12: 28-34 November 1, 2015, All Saints Day First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Even though today is All Saints Day, and there are certain traditional scriptures for that observance, we are still in the gospel of Mark, following Jesus around Galilee and Judea. Now, Mark’s gospel has brought us to Jerusalem, on the last Tuesday before the crucifixion. Here we are, in the twelfth chapter of Mark – after what seemed like forever in the tenth chapter. The eleventh chapter brought Jesus and his followers into Jerusalem, where he was greeted by crowds laying their cloaks on the road in front of him, shouting Hosanna, blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! In the past few weeks’ readings, Jesus has run into some opponents, people who want to trap him, to find a way to charge him with a crime, to discredit him. Now, he meets a scribe who has a very different attitude, someone who is impressed by what he has heard, and genuinely wants to be in dialogue wit...