Worship at First Presbyterian Church of Marion, Illinois

Joel 2:12-13, 28-29    Turn to a merciful God, promise of the Spirit. As we look at our world, as we have throughout this year, and even decade, or maybe century, we often wonder along with the Psalmist, “How long, O Lord?” At times, we wonder how long God will put up with us, or if not us, them. Joel, on the…

Daniel 6:6-27     Daniel in the lions’ den; deliverance; God’s kingdom shall never be destroyed. Daniel is perhaps most famous for this passage. It is one we learn as children. It has drama, and excitement, and lions. We may also remember Daniel and the fiery furnace, or Daniel and his weird dreams/visions. These are the high points of the stories – the…

Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-23, 27-28 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 Jeremiah has a word from God for the king and the kingdom that the king doesn’t want to hear. Jeremiah is barred from the God’s house, so he sends a scroll with Baruch to the house of the Lord to read the scroll. The scroll makes its way to the king, and as the king…

Isaiah 6:1-8 Typically the call of Isaiah is preached at things like ordinations, sometimes at graduations, or at commissioning of missionaries. We end up focusing on the end lines, “Here I am, send me!” When we do that, we miss so much from this encounter. Isaiah has a vision that puts him in the presence of God, in God’s throne room. Isaiah’s…

Jonah 1:1-17; 3:1-10 [4:1-11] Here we find another middle of the faith journey story. Jonah is a person of faith, who both believes certain things about God – that God is slow to anger and abiding in steadfast love – and is called by God to be God’s messenger. So he gets sent to Nineveh, into the middle of ‘them,’ into the…

1 Kings 17:1-16 [17-24] Elijah is one of the big names in the Bible. People this Jesus is him, and that should place him in the power and memory structure of the people of God. So it isn’t really surprising that God does some work to keep Elijah alive during a famine. The first way in which God keeps Elijah alive is…

2 Samuel 7:1-17 The question of the past 7 months has been what comes next? When can we do the thing? When can we stop doing the thing? And that question and search is happening in Samuel as well. The people and David are in Jerusalem. The ark is in Jerusalem. There is a palace for the king. So what comes next?…

1 Samuel 1:9-11, 19-20; 2:1-10 If you’ve sensed a recurring title this fall, then you’ve been paying attention. If not, this is the third sermon this fall titled “In the Middle.” We find ourselves in the middle once more. Hannah has grown up and lived in a religious household that has followed God. She is married, but she has had no children.…

Exodus 32:1-14 In the quick snapshot, Moses is on top of the mountain talking to God, and just got the two tablets of the law. Meanwhile, at the bottom of the mountain, the people of God are getting impatient and want something to worship. They donate their gold to make an idol. God notices, gets…

Exodus 12:1-13; 13:1-8 The Passover story is an old one, a powerful one, and one that Christians often put to the side as we celebrate the sacrifice of the Lamb who is Christ. Our Jewish neighbors still hold it up as important, if that that isn’t important to us, Jesus held it up as an important celebration. That should get our attention.…