A homily by Jennifer Drummond

Epiphany is the season of light; light appearing, light bursting forth, light going out. Light shining on Israel (a people who were in darkness) and light shining on the Gentiles  (a light to enlighten the world). We’ve been talking about light the past few weeks and how the light of the gospel - the good news - came to Ephesus with Paul, and how it might come to Salem, through us and the others here who are walking with Jesus. 

Today is a hinge day, and it’s convenient that Nate+ is gone, because I get to mark the change from talking about the light coming to Salem, which I hope you are getting a taste of how incredible that might be, to talking about a focus on how light guides our pilgrimage. 

When her family hosts a Master Baker, Maria must risk personal and family reputation for the chance to become the Baker's apprentice.

Listen to Fr. Nate's story-sermon or read it here: The Better Part of Hospitality

Homily by Jennifer Drummond

Somehow I missed a lot of the Old Testament stories growing up. In the Catholic world, we never went to Sunday school, and they always chose the shorter options for the readings in church. In high school, I spent a lot of time in the gospels with Jesus, and then in the New Testament debating with my Protestant friends. In college, the Old Testament was referenced, as if I knew the details about David or Moses’ life.

"WHY does God allow suffering?" It's a question we all ask, understandably. Yet neither the Bible nor experience offer clear or easily satisfying answers.

But what if the Bible and our own experiences invite us to ask a different and better question? What if that better question has a satisfying--though not an easy--answer? 

"What is God doing in, with, and through sufferings?" The answer, found in 2 Corinthians 4, may not be easy or simple news, but it is jaw-droppingly good news: God meets those who suffer with the Surpassing Power and Treasure of His Son Jesus' death and life.

To find out more, listen to Fr. Nate's sermon Incomparable Sufficiency in How We Suffer . . . For Glory. (The audio available in QuickTime).

It's the last sermon in the series, Sufficiency Beyond Comparisons, based in three passages from 2 Corinthians (click link for series overview).

Fr. Nate started a three-week series called Sufficiency Beyond Comparisons, based in three passages from 2 Corinthians (link to series overview). 

Listen to the first sermon in the series, and go deeper with the notes: Incomparable Sufficiency In Who we Are . . . Becoming. (The audio requires QuickTime). 

by Rev. Kristen Yates
A Sermon on the Transfiguration and Healing/Deliverance

Good evening. So  tonight, as you can see is a little unusual.  I am leading the service and preaching,
while Nate+ goes off to lead children’s worship. It’s not typical for our lead pastor to  not be here for the first part of the service, but this is a demonstration of  how much we care for our children here at Crossroads Church and how much we take  seriously the idea that our children are youngest disciples.  It is so important to us in fact that Nate+ has decided that he will take  turns in leading them in their worship time from time to time.   We are really thankful for his servant’s heart.


So it is good to be with you tonight, after this big snow  storm.  I hope you all had an   opportunity to enjoy the beauty of this winter wonderland that is all around us.  I am sure that for many of you, you are also tired from all the shoveling you had to do, so I am thankful  that we are able to come together tonight to worship God, and I hope this time will serve as a time of refreshment for you.

by Rev. Kristen Yates

Good evening, it’s good to be preaching again from God’s Word. 

So tonight, our Gospel reading retells the story of Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in Nazareth, his home town.  Jesus reads from the prophet Isaiah and then instructs the people on its meaning.  At first, the people in the synagogue respond to Jesus in wonderment, but as we will see in next week’s readings, this wonderment quickly turn to rejection.  

Now, when I preached two weeks ago, I mentioned that the Season of Epiphany is a time when something significant is revealed about Jesus, usually something that points beyond his humanity to his divinity, his identity as God Himself. 

To recap our readings - at his baptism, Jesus’ divine and messianic identity is revealed.  At the Wedding at Cana, Jesus’ divine identity is showcased as we witness His miracle of turning water into wine.  And at the synagogue in Nazareth, Jesus’ messianic identity is fleshed out - not only does Luke remind us that Jesus is the Messiah, but he gives us a sense of what the Messianic tasks at hand will be.

So let’s look back at the passage for a moment in our inserts and see how Luke does this.

Transcript of Homily – 1/13/13 (We unfortunately cut off most of this homily in our recording, but here is the next best thing.)

By the Rev. Kristen Yates

Good evening.  It is so good to be with you tonight as we begin this new year and this new phase of life together as Crossroads Church.  I know that those of us who gathered this morning for training in children’s ministry felt really encouraged about what God has for us in this coming year.  I know I am personally excited to be here in Salem, MA and to see how God will show up this year with our community.   This is an exciting work that God has begun through us.

So today marks the second Sunday in the Season of Epiphany, a season that began last Sunday with the Epiphany, the day when we commemorate the three wise men coming to offer homage to the child Jesus, and a season that will last right up until Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. 

Now, over the past few years, I have come to a new appreciation of this season and what it can mean for our Christian journeys. 

As you probably know, the word epiphany means “to reveal” or to “to unveil” and during this particular season in the church calendar, the Scriptures present us with events in Jesus’ life where something significant is unveiled about the Person of Jesus, something which generally points beyond Jesus’ humanity to his divinity.