“The Son of Man must undergo great suffering,” Jesus says. What does he mean there? Why must this happen? A sermon on Mark 8:31-38.

The real work of this season—leaving behind old worries and fears, trusting in the love of God, taking steps toward living with greater justice and mercy, taking hold of something better—isn’t meant to be undertaken alone. A sermon on Mark 1:9-15.

Those are two words we need right now—both to allow us to speak the truth of this difficult time and to acknowledge that there is more to the story as well, even if we can’t always see it.

A sermon on Mark 9:2-9, the story of the transfiguration, by Rev. Dr. Elaine Neuenfeldt.

Jesus meant to leave communities of healing behind him—in Capernaum and in every place he visited—communities that would carry on his work.

Several members of the congregation speaking our common prayer in their own languages, paired with the choir singing "Abana ladhi fi ssama," a musical setting of the Lord's Prayer from Palestine.

There are any number of things that can possess us, and Jesus comes in opposition to them all, in opposition to anything less than life lived in gracious openness to God and service to our neighbors.

"The time is fulfilled," Jesus said. It’s another way of saying: this is the moment. This is the moment to take a stand. This is the moment choose something better than the death-dealing ways you see around you.

When the word we need to hear threatens the comfortable story we are accustomed to, do we close our ears and turn the other way? Or do we listen?

A sermon on the occasion of Terry MacArthur's retirement as minister of music for the English-Speaking Congregation.