Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church

NOTE:  This sermon contains extensive discussion of a painting and was originally accompanied by a slide show of images.  To read a manuscript of the sermon with images included, read the PDF file linked above. __________________ I’ve been struggling for a while now with a question. It’s a nagging theological question, and Palm Sunday always … Continue reading Caught Up

I know we’re supposed to not like Judas, but he’s got a really good point. 300 denarii – that’s nearly a year’s worth of wages for a laborer. And Mary wastes it on Jesus’ feet. Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure Jesus is worth it and all, but why not scale it back a … Continue reading Risking Relationship

The Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway delivered the sermon “A Sin-Filled Cross” at the Lenten Ecumenical Series worship hosted this year by Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church.

It only took the Uber driver two questions to discover that he had just picked up 3 pastors in Atlanta last week. After snidely suggesting that we were probably raising millions of dollars for our own private jet, an allusion to Atlanta-based TV preacher Creflo Dollar, he said, “so since you’re a pastor, you think … Continue reading Uber Grace

Sermon preached by Mr. James Parks, Moderator of the Presbytery of Baltimore on February 21, 2016. In the movie “The Lion King,” Simba, the young lion, runs away after his father, the Lion King, dies. Simba runs both from his past, thinking he is responsible for his father’s death, and also from his future as … Continue reading Remember Who You Are

The Rev. Dr. Douglas Summers of the Providence Baptist Church delivers a sermon entitled “When the Tempter Comes” at the Lenten Ecumenical Worship service hosted this year by Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church.

The scene of crime scene was the gym where my childhood church basketball team played games every Saturday during basketball season. In the lobby of the gym was a selection of candies – Kit Kats, Hershey bars, Twix, just to name the ones that tempted me the most. Somehow I ended up there alone, before … Continue reading Resisting the Devil

If “diversity” had been a buzzword in the Apostle Paul’s day, then Corinth would have set the definition. Corinth had everything. Temples, Greek and Egyptian shrines, Jewish synagogues and the Roman imperial cult. Corinth had a reputation for having wealth without culture, a sort of Sin City with everything to offer. Corinth’s diversity was not … Continue reading The Body of Christ

Isaiah speaks in the future tense. I will not keep silent. The nations will see your vindication. You will be a crown of splendor. You will be called Hephzibah – My Delight is in Her, and Beulah – married. A wedding is all about the future. A future that comes about because of a promise. … Continue reading Race, Justice, and Dreams

It’s often said that the God of the Old Testament is an angry, vengeful God while the God of the New Testament is loving and kind.[1] Jesus is the loving, gentle, caring one; the flow-y-haired father-figure from the children’s Bible holding a lone sheep under his arm and laughing with children, while the God of … Continue reading Learning How to Love from Evangelicals, Recovering Alcoholics, and Jesus