First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

Psalm 37:10-17; Matthew 5: 1-2, 5-6 March 12, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Our first reading comes from the Psalms today, a Psalm that may not be familiar to many of us. You know, of course, that the Psalms are in verse, like poems and songs, and that many of them were used in worship in ancient Israel. You are probably familiar with the some of the Psalms – maybe even lots of them! – like Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd…” Or maybe Psalm 121 – “I lift up my eyes to the hills…” And you’ve heard phrases from Psalms, even if you didn’t know the source. But there are 150 Psalms, and most of us aren’t that well-versed in the less-quoted ones. Psalm 37 is a song of assurance to the people of Israel, people who had suffered under various oppressors, and who had lived with persecution and hardship. Granted, some of their troubles were the result of their own disobedience, but this Psalm assures them of God’s justice. It is also the Psalm that Jesus quote...

This is the first sermon in a Lenten sermon series on the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Deuteronomy 15:7-8; Matthew 4:23-5:3 March 5, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry As we begin our series on the Beatitudes, let’s set the scene and the context. Beatitude means blessing – a simple word that we use often, but maybe not in the ways that Jesus used it. The scriptures are filled with allusions to blessings – the blessings from God to people, from fathers to sons, between brothers, and the blessing of the covenant and the law. As a faithful Jew, Jesus was a student of the law, and as the Messiah, he was also the fulfillment of the law. Part of that law was the injunction to welcome the stranger,to care for the alien that resides in your country, and to care for the poor and the needy. Listen for that injunction in this reading from Deuteronomy 15:7-8: If there is among you anyone in need, a member of your community in any of your towns within the land...

2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, Illinois February 26, 2017 Christina Berry Our first reading, from second Peter, comes from a letter that was written at least one generation after Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is a reminder to the Christian community that the stories of Jesus are our family stories, and they are true stories. These stories are told and retold, like any family stories, until we ourselves feel like eyewitnesses to the events they describe. Like all true stories passed down from generation to generation, these stories must be repeated so that their power is not lost to time. The interpretation of them comes through the power of the Holy Spirit, and so they are never individual stories, but truths shared by the community of those who follow Jesus. This story is a reminder to us of the glory we now share, and the glory that is yet to come. Let’s listen for the Holy Spirit speaking to us in 2 Peter 1:16-21: For we did not follow c...

Matthew 5:38-48 February 19, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry We continue this week with a part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. We heard last week the first part of a series of teachings in which Jesus begins by referring to a familiar truth from scripture, and then adds an interpretation which deepens the truth of that belief. Matthew’s gospel, you’ll recall, puts special emphasis on connecting the work of Jesus to the work of Moses. So, again, Jesus quotes Mosaic law and the customs of the times, then expands them in new ways. Let’s listen as Jesus fulfills the law with his teachings in Matthew 5:38-48. [Jesus said] ‘You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give...

Matthew 5:21-37 February 12, 2017 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry We continue this week in the gospel of Matthew, rejoining the crowds who came to listen to Jesus as he preached what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. The sermon began with the Beatitudes. Jesus then told his listeners that they were to be salt and light. He continued his teaching with the caution to them “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets.” Jesus came, he said, to fulfill the law and the prophets - to make them complete. But the writer of Matthew’s gospel wants to make sure that the readers will connect Jesus to his Jewish forebears, particularly to Moses. Like Moses, Jesus’ birth was announced by an angel. Like Moses, Jesus was pursued by a murderous king. Like Moses, Jesus came out of Egypt. Like Moses, Jesus passed through waters. Like Moses, Jesus was tested in the wilderness. Like Moses, Jesus climbed up to the top of a mountain to receive and deliver the ...

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...