Sermon Transcripts

January 19, 2025 ~ Human Relations Day Rev. Beckie Sweet   Pastor David Clark tells the story of the most recent visit he had with his parishioner, “Old Al Lunde.”  Al was a long-time member of the congregation, who loved to talk about any subject under the sun.  There were some apples sitting on the kitchen table, and so the conversation turned to apples and apple cider.  David had heard that Al made his own cider, and so he...

January 12, 2025 ~ Baptism of Jesus Rev. Beckie Sweet   The young son of a Baptist pastor was in church one Sunday morning when he witnessed for the first time a baptism by immersion. He was greatly interested in what had happened, and so the next morning he proceeded to baptize his three cats in the bathtub. The youngest kitten bore it very well, and so did the younger cat.  But the old family tom cat rebelled.  The old feline...

January 5, 2025 ~ Epiphany Rev. Beckie Sweet   Five months ago, when I started the planning for today’s Epiphany worship service, I selected the title, “Follow that Star!” based on my memory of police dramas from my childhood.  You see, in many of those dramas, when trying to catch a suspected criminal, the police heroes would shout, “Follow that Car!”  In “The Untouchables,” Elliot Ness, played by Robert Stack, would use that...

December 24, 2024 ~ Christmas Eve Worship Series: “Come Home for Christmas” Rev. Beckie Sweet   Way back in the 1990’s there was a sit-com on television called “Home Improvement.”   You might even remember seeing its reruns in the past decade.  The series starred Tim Allen as “Tim, the Toolman Taylor.”  Co-stars included Patricia Richardson as Tim’s spouse, Jill; Richard Karn as Al Borland, and Earl Hindman as...

December 22, 2024 ~ Fourth Sunday of Advent Come Home for Christmas Rev. Beckie Sweet   I’m dreaming tonight of a place I love even more than I usually do And although I know it’s a long road back ~ I promise you: I’ll be home for Christmas, you can count on me….               Do you remember where we were three years ago?  In December of 2021?  That December, Ithaca was mentioned on the national news A LOT!  You see, this was...

December 15, 2024 ~ Third Sunday of Advent Worship Series: Come Home for Christmas Rev. Beckie Sweet   The Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday.  “Gaudete,” when translated from Latin, means “rejoice.”  And the origin of this name for the third Sunday of Advent comes from the letter to the Philippians which states, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice.” Advent is actually a penitential...