First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

Genesis 1:1-2:4: The key teaching of the first creation story in Genesis is not how or when God created the earth, but that it was God who created it, and that creation belongs to God. The verses which imply that humanity should have "dominion" over creation or "subdue" creation do not mean we are to disrespect or exploit creation, but rather, were written in an ancient context that understood that the wilderness could be hostile to survival. The ancients would have found our pattern of exploiting creation to be blasphemous.

Acts 1:6-14: The ascension tells us Jesus' ministry is no longer limited in time, space and history. The disciples have a chance to absorb this during the pause or interlude between his ascension and Pentecost, when the promised Holy Spirit arrives. This God-given pause helps to prepare them for what is to come. Likewise, our pauses - breaks, vacations, holidays - are God-given pauses to prepare us for what is to come.

Lesson: Acts 17:22-31. The new evangelism seeks not to convert people to our way, but to invite people into a conversation and into collaboration with God and neighbors in the great work of healing the earth, of building the beloved community, and of seeking first the kingdom of God and God's justice for all.

Lesson: Matthew 5:14-16. As we launch our 2017 Capital campaign, we look at the ways we can expand our welcome and minister to more people if we improve and maintain the buildings with which we are blessed.

Acts 2:42-47. This sermon looks at the ways fellowship and breaking bread together helped build the early Christian community and helped people to grow in faith, day by day. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper symbolizes this radical welcome and koinonia shared by the early church and by the church today.

On the Sunday after Easter, we celebrate Holy Humor Sunday, the traditional "Easter laugh." Our worship takes the format of a radio show, "A San Anselmo Home Companion." (Our thanks to Garrison Keillor.) The proclamation of the Word (or sermon) is "The News from San Anselmo," a work of fiction.

Passages: Colossians 3:1-4 (from The Message); Matthew 28:1-10 Many people wonder whether the resurrection really happened. The question is not, "Did it happen?" but "Is it still happening?" The promise of the resurrection is not simply what God has done, but what God is still doing. Easter is not over; it is ongoing.

Matthew 21:1-17: Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem was a demonstration of the Kingdom of God as an alternative to the Empire of Rome: peace, not war; love, not violence; joy, not coercion.

Ezekiel 37:1-4: God's Spirit is still at work in us and in the Church, giving us hope in the struggle to do hard things. That is where hope is born.

The 23rd Psalm and John's first letter help us to understand how God's companionship transform everything, helping us to affirm, along with the psalmist, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

This sermon explores how it's easier to get the people out of slavery than to get slavery out of the people. During the Exodus journey, the people forgot that God is the One who delivered them from slavery, who values freedom.

In a dialogue sermon on Esther 4:10-17, pastor Joanne Whitt and church member Peter Anderson explore Peter Anderson's experiences as a water protector with the Standing Rock Sioux at Cannon Ball, North Dakota, during the winter of late 2016.

This sermon introduces the season of Lent with Jesus' 40-day journey into the wilderness, where he was tempted, like Adam and Eve, to fill a God-shaped hole with something other other than God, apart from God and apart from his love of God and God's people.

In this final sermon on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel, we explore whether it is possible to love our enemies, as Jesus admonishes us to do. What might it look like to love our enemies in 2017?

This sermon looks at why Jesus intensifies the laws in the Sermon on the Mount. The law is not to be followed for the law's sake, but for our sake. The law was given to help us to live in relationship, to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Lesson: Matthew 4:12-23: This sermon explores how we are called to "be" - to be beloved children of God and to understand the sacredness of all our fellow human beings and all of God's creation - before we are called to "do" - to act in response to this amazing love.

Lamentations 2:18-19; 3:22-24; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. There is indeed a "time to weep." The Book of Lamentations shows us the pattern of healing from grief: Express the pain, move to hope.

Luke 2:1-20: On Christmas Day we celebrate that God is with us, "Emmanuel" - with folks like us, and in folks like us.

Continuing a sermon series on questions about the Christian faith, this sermon looks at forgiveness: God's, and ours. Might forgiveness help our nation heal from the stark divisions revealed by the recent political campaigns and the presidential election? The sermon explores what forgiveness is, and what it isn't. It isn't saying everything is OK; it isn't approval; it doesn't require that anyone put up with hurtful behavior. It is freedom to move into a different future. Like love, it cannot be quantified.

Continuing our sermon series on questions about our faith, this sermon explores the New Testament use of the term "God's will," using the Lord's Prayer in Matthew's gospel and Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 12. "God's will" does not mean that whatever happens is God's will, nor does it mean God has a secret plan for each of us, but rather, that God desires that all things on earth be united in God's plan for the healing and wholeness of the world.