First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

Micah 6:1-8; Matthew 5:1-12 January 29, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry In our first reading, imagine that God has called a tribunal. The judges for this proceeding are the mountains and the hills, God’s very own creation. Those contending in this tribunal are God and mortals. The controversy is clear – God has not done anything to humans but free them and redeem them and save them and feed them. What is the fair compensation, then, than mortals should render unto God? Are we to bring burnt offerings of yearling calves? Or maybe God would be happier with an offering of thousands of rams and ten thousands rivers of oil? Does it come down to the sacrifice of our children? Will that offering satisfy God? The answer is perhaps not what you might expect, given the imbalance of the transaction. Let’s listen for what God asks of us in Micah 6: 1-8 1 Hear what the LORD says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. 2 Hear, yo...

Isaiah 9:1-4; Matthew 4:12-23 January 22, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Our first reading today is again from the book of the prophet Isaiah, this time one of the prophecies of the messiah. You recently heard this, if you were in church on Christmas Eve, but you heard even more verses than in this reading. Following the text you hear today comes the familiar “Unto us a child is born...a son is given…and his name shall be called “wonderful counselor, almighty God, everlasting father, the prince of peace. The promise is that in a time of struggle and anguish – captivity, brutality, hunger and poverty – in a time of deep darkness, God will send a savior. Let’s listen for God’s promise in Isaiah 9:1-4 1 But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, G...

Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:4-9; John 1: 29-42 January 18, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Our first reading today is from the Hebrew Scriptures, the book of the prophet Isaiah. This section, like the scripture we heard last week from Isaiah, is a part of the text called “Servant Songs.” These prophetic promises have long been understood as pointing to the identity of the Messiah, the promised one who fulfills God’s covenant. But the servant songs can also be understood to be speaking to all of God’s servants – the people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham, and you and me. Let’s listen to God’s call to us in Isaiah 49:1-7: 1 Listen to me, O coastlands, pay attention, you peoples from far away! The LORD called me before I was born, while I was in my mother's womb he named me. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, "You are ...

Baptism of Christ Sunday Isaiah 42:5-9, Matthew 3: 13-17 January 8, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Our first reading today is from Isaiah, a part of one of the texts that are called “the servant songs.” These poetic passages are widely understood to be prophetic promises from God to God’s people – promises of comfort, of liberation, and of covenant. The God of the servant songs is the God whose spirit moved across the face of the deep in Genesis, the one who speaks and brings order out of chaos and whose covenant brings a future with hope, and a new vision for all of humankind. Let’s listen for God’s promise in this portion of the Servant Song in Isaiah 42:5-9 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: I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you; I have giv...

Luke 2:1-20 December 24, 2016, Christmas Eve First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry These past four weeks, we’ve been contemplating the story of Scrooge alongside the story of Christmas – the gifts of peace, hope, love and joy. Both of these stories are familiar, and both have much to teach us. So tonight we will consider the tale of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and we will hear again the story of the birth of Jesus. Let’s start with the fictional character – Ebenezer Scrooge. He was “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner!” And one night he was visited by four ghosts – his old partner Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. Each one of these spirits has something important to show Scrooge. And because of what he sees, Scrooge is transformed. He goes from “Bah! Humbug!” to “God bless us everyone!” We know Scrooge – we’ve all met a Scrooge or two. Maybe we wondered how he was so successful, maybe wondered if she...

Revelation 1:4; Luke 4:18-19; Romans 8:4b-17 December 18, 2016 First Presbyterian Church Sterling, IL Christina Berry We have three brief readings today, all from the New Testament. Fittingly for the theme of worship today, we begin with the end, a single verse from the first chapter of the last book of the Bible, Revelation. As you know, we Presbyterians understand this book not as a prediction of rapture and the end times, but as a prophecy and promise of the return of Christ, bringing not tribulation and Armageddon but a new heaven and a new earth. This particular verse calls to our attention the eternal past, present and future of Christ. Now that you’ve heard an introduction five times longer than the actual scripture, listen for the word of the Lord in Revelation 1:4: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. The second reading is from Luke’s gospel, a brief excerpt from a sermon Jesus preached in his hometown synagogue. The sermon was w...

Deuteronomy 15: 7-11 Matthew 2: 1-18 December 11, 2016 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Our scripture readings for today may be a bit unexpected, given the joyful time we’ve just had with our children’s program. The first reading is from Deuteronomy, the “second law,” that is, the second giving of the law to the Israelites as they entered the Promised Land. This reading comes from a section of Deuteronomy that is about “regulations concerning the sacred division of time.” That cycle includes observance of Sabbath, the giving of the tithe, the remission of debts, the manumission of slaves, and the care of those who are poor. Let’s listen for God’s word in Deuteronomy 15:7-11, from the Common English Bible: Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. To the contrary! Open your...