First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

John 6: 35-40, 44-51 March 1, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry As we turn to scripture this second Sunday of Lent, we shift a bit from last week’s focus. If you remember, last Sunday we joined Moses as he spoke to a burning bush in the desert. God spoke to Moses and called him to go to Pharoah and tell him to set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt. When Moses asked how to name God to the Israelites, God said, “Ehyeh asher ehyeh – I AM that I AM. I will be what I will be.” Now we jump forward to the New Testament, to John’s gospel, to continue to hear those words, “I AM.” Except now the words are spoken by Jesus, and they are in Greek – “ego eime” – I AM. As we enter the story here in the 6th chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus has just fed 5000 people, so they’ve decided to make him their king. He fed them, so they want to make him king, so he’ll keep feeding them. It’s a first century reversal of the politician’s promise of “ a chicken in every pot.” B...

Hineni! Here I Am Exodus 3:1-15 February 18, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Exodus 3:1-15 Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." 4 When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." 5 Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." 6 He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was a...

The I AM Ash Wednesday Meditation February 18, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Ashes. Everybody knows what ashes are. They’re what is left after the fire burns, what remains after destruction, the leftovers of death. We don’t think of ashes much, unless we have to clean out the fireplace, or if we are at a funeral. You all know the words: “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust All of us go down to the grave.” Ashes are what is left after everything else is destroyed. Not a very happy thought, really. Not the kind of symbol most of us care to have in front of us. Not the kind of thing we want marked on our foreheads. Not the image we want to see in the mirror. You can wash them off, of course, and people do that. But symbols are not the reality, and getting rid of that cross of ashes doesn’t make the reality behind it go away. The reality is that we are someday going to die. The hard truth of Ash Wednesday is that it reminds us of limi...

2 Kings 2:1-12 February 15, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry 2 Kings 2:1-12 Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here; for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. The company of prophets who were in Bethel came out to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?" And he said, "Yes, I know; keep silent." Elijah said to him, "Elisha, stay here; for the Lord has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. The company of prophets who were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, "Do you know that today the Lord will...

Genesis 1:1-5, Mark 1:4-11 January 11, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Our first reading this week takes us back to the beginning again. Last week we reflected on that beginning; we recognized that Christ was present from the beginning as light and Word. Now, we hear once again how a creating God spoke a word over the primordial waters. This is not the glassy sea of Revelation, silent and calm. This is turbulent chaos, swirling and dangerous waters. The Spirit of God hovers over the water, the voice of God thundered over the water, and when God spoke, the first day came into being. Listen for God’s word in Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the lig...

John 1:1-18 January 4, 2015 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry This first Sunday of the new year, we begin with the first chapter of John. The fourth gospel is different in style, substance and tone from the other three. Matthew, Mark and Luke are synoptic gospels – they look together at the life of Christ, chronologically. John, however, describes the life of Christ in terms of cosmology – a poetic, earth-changing event that cannot be described in everyday language. Mark’s gospel begins with Jesus’ baptism. Luke begins with the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John the Baptist and Jesus. Matthew’s gospel begins with genealogy of Jesus, going all the way back to Abraham. And John? John’s gospel goes even farther back, back to the very beginning. Even the opening words hearken back to Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning.” John wants to be very sure that we understand that Jesus is co-eternal with God. So, just as in the beginning, God spo...

Luke 2:22-40 December 28, 2014 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Luke 2:22-40 The Gospel of Luke is structured as a biography of Jesus and follows the literary conventions of the time. As you might expect then, after the prologue, we have the birth narrative, which you heard on Christmas Eve, then the stories of infancy and childhood, which foreshadow the life of Jesus as an adult. Aside from Matthew’s account of the visitation of the Magi and the slaughter of the innocents, Luke’s gospel is the only one that includes any stories of Jesus from his infancy and childhood. Listen for God’s word to you in the second chapter of the Gospel of Luke, verse 22-40. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23(as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), 24 and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in...