Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ

preached by Winton Boyd on November 30, 2008
Text: Mark 13:24-37

At the beginning of Advent, many a preacher faces some predictable tensions when it comes to preaching the lectionary texts. While we think of Advent as the coming of the baby in a manager, the ancient church coupled the birth of Jesus and its celebration with the promise of a a second coming of God at the end of this age. Thus, while the culture within and outside our congregations are often ready to move into the story of shepherds, angels, stars, babies, mangers and dumbstruck parents – the tradition of the church begins us with these bizarre, often outlandish prophetic or apocalyptic passages like today’s text. It is a hard fall from the peaceful and graceful gratitude of Thanksgiving to some promise hidden in a story about a thief in the night and clouds of glory and power. Continue Reading »

November-23-2008-click-here-to-play

Preached by Winton Boyd on November 23, 2008

These blessings come at the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount. They are the “opening slide” of his PowerPoint. They are the statement of purpose, the vision, the broad stroke. He utters these before he talks specifics about behaviors, gives instructions, before the idea of obedience or disobedience is introduced, before he tells stories like the Prodigal Son, Good Samaritan and workers in the field that we have read recently in worship. Continue Reading »

November-16-2008-click-here-to-play

Preached by Winton Boyd on November 16, 2008
Matthew 20:1-16 (Contemporary English Version) - full text at the end of this sermon.

As we work our way through this sermon series on the essential stories of the bible, this one about the workers in the vineyard – is probably the least popular of the one of the three parables of Jesus we are addressing (the Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan being the other two). It is a bit more problematic. Continue Reading »

November-9-08-click-here-to-play

Preached by Winton Boyd on November 9th, 2008

My hunch is that if we, as a group, were asked to name a story that most defines the lifestyle of Christians, the parable of the Good Samaritan would be among those stories. It is among the most familiar stories of the Bible, even for those who don’t read the Bible or go to church.

While a lovely story, the fact that we know it so well has its downsides. Continue Reading »

october-26-2008-click-here-to-play

preached by Winton Boyd on October 26

Text:  4:16-30

When visiting Nazareth a few years ago, I was taken to the hill local legend suggests was the site of this passage. Continue Reading »