First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL

John 12:20-33, Psalm 51:1-12 March 18, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Our gospel reading from the gospel according to John comes from the 12th chapter. In the verses just preceding this reading, Jesus has entered Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, accompanied by crowds shouting “Hosanna,” and waving palm branches. It’s worth considering that only in John’s gospel are the branches specified as palm branches. Since the Maccabean period of about 167-160 BCE, palm branches were symbols of national triumph and victory. The palm branches point us to the fact that the crowd greets Jesus as their national hero. [1] This only increases the discomfort of the Roman authorities. In this scripture, John points out that “some Greeks” have come up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. They find Philip and ask him to take them to Jesus. Let’s listen for God’s gracious word to us in that encounter with Jesus in John 12: 20-33 20 Now among those who went up to worship a...

John 3:14-21; Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 March 11, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry We are again in John’s gospel this fourth Sunday in Lent. We heard last week about one of the events which John calls “signs,” as Jesus threw the moneychangers from the temple. John’s gospel is particularly focused on the incarnation – Jesus as God in human flesh, as a sign of God’s presence, and on the signs that point us to that reality. John’s gospel begins with a focus on Jesus as “the Word made flesh,” Jesus as the light of the world, shining in the darkness. In the verses that lead up to today’s reading, a man named Nicodemus has come in the dark of night to talk to Jesus. They discuss how a person needs to experience a new birth in the Spirit, and Jesus continues with a reference to the deliverance of the Israelites, and how an effigy of a snake lifted up effected their healing. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in John 3:14-21 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in th...

John 2:13-22; Psalm 19 March 4, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry The event described in our gospel reading appears in all four gospels. The scene is known as “Jesus Cleansing the Temple.” In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, this event takes place right after Jesus enters Jerusalem in the last week of his life. In them, this event is the last straw, prompting the arrest of Jesus. In John’s gospel, Jesus cleanses the temple right after his first sign, the miracle of turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in John 2:13-22: The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. He told those who were selling the doves, ...

Mark 8:31-38, Psalm 22:23-31 February 25, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry We continue in our gospel readings from the Gospel of Mark, another brisk rendering of a crucial exchange between Jesus and Peter. Peter, you’ll remember is the name that Jesus gave to Simon, Son of Zebedee, and the literal translation of that name from the Greek is “rock.” Such a name can be taken in more than one way. Perhaps Peter is indeed “solid as a rock” but there are times when he seems so thick headed that the name could be taken as a description of his intellect – just rock headed. I think that second meaning is what applies in this reading. Jesus’ frustration with Peter in this exchange is evident. Jesus is telling his followers what is going to happen to him, and why it matters. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in Mark 8:31-38 Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and...

Mark 1:9-15, Psalm 25:1-10 February 18, 2018, First Sunday in Lent First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry Our gospel reading today is from Mark’s gospel. Typical of this gospel, the action is brisk. In the first eight verses of the first chapter, we’ve seen John the Baptist proclaiming that the promised one is coming. Now we see Jesus in action as he begins his ministry. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in Mark 1:9-15. In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaimi...

2 Kings 2:1-12; Mark 9:2-9 February 11, 2018, Transfiguration Sunday First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL Christina Berry This first reading is from one of the books of history of the Hebrew Scriptures, in which we see the stories of the Hebrew people as they develop from a wandering tribal people to a nation unified by a covenant with God. If you often mix up Elijah and Elisha, this text may make that worse, since both of them are in it, and both of them are prophets of Israel. I keep them straight by remembering that they appear alphabetically- Elijah is the prophet that precedes Elisha. Elijah is the mentor, leader, the one who called Elisha. When Elijah him to be a prophet, Elisha was plowing in a field. Elijah threw his cloak over Elisha’s shoulders, indicating his call, and Elisha responded with intense commitment: killing his ox and sacrificing it on the fire that he made with his plow.  Let’s listen for the moment of glory when Elijah departs from Elijah in 2 Kings ...

Mark 1: 21-28; 1 Corinthians 8: 1-13 January 28, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Sterling, IL Christina Berry Ordinarily, when the scriptures are read in worship, the gospel reading would be the last one read. I guess we usually want to have Jesus to have the last word. But today, we are going to read the gospel first, because this Sunday, we want Jesus’ words to come first, and the words of the Apostle Paul to come second. So our first reading comes from the first chapter of Mark, in which we see the first miracle Mark records, as Jesus heals a very ill man at the synagogue. Mark is, I think, less interested in the miraculous healing, and more interested in us understanding the identity and authority of Jesus. He places that statement of identity and authority in the mouth of an unclean spirit, right in the middle of this story, Let’s listen for God’s word to us in Mark 1:21-28: They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were asto...