Scriptures:Matthew 10:26-39 & Acts 2:42-47 Welcome home! What a joy it is to gather here today – old friends, new friends, members, visitors – all of us together as one body. This is our Homecoming or Rally Day or Fall Kick-off; whatever we want to call it. But this is the Sunday when we celebrate […]
Scriptures:Proverbs 25:6-7a & Luke 14:1, 7-14 As the minister officiating the wedding, I was once invited to the wedding receptions of couples I really didn’t know that well. On one occasion, the bride and groom were not members of the church I was serving, but had very close friends who were. They had found me […]
Scriptures:Isaiah 58:9b-14 & Luke 13:10-17 I am a member of one of those generations that has the questionable habit of mindless scrolling on my phone. I’m sure there are plenty of downsides, but one of the upsides is the diversity of people I have to learn from right at my fingertips – people who teach […]
Scriptures:Isaiah 56:1-8 & Matthew 7:15-20 A few weeks ago, our high school youth went on our trip to Presbyterian Youth Triennium. In the weeks, and even the hours, leading up to the trip, there was plenty of excitement. But most of our youth were also pretty honest with me: they were nervous. They were anxious […]
Scriptures:Psalm 50:1-6 & Luke 12:32-40 One thing I appreciate about school nurses (just one, because there are an awful lot of things I appreciate about school nurses), but one thing I appreciate about school nurses, is that they understand the fear that strikes a parent’s heart when the caller ID says “school nurse.” In a […]
Scriptures:Hosea 11:1-11 There’s a line in the play Love Letters by playwright A. R. Gurney that came to mind as I was reading Hosea this week. This play, which premiered in 1988, is performed by just two actors playing two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. They sit side by side at tables […]
Scriptures:Mark 9:33-37 & Hebrews:13:2 Watch the Livestreams
Scriptures:Amos 8:1-12Luke 10:38-42 Today I begin with a quote I came across online that has been echoing in my heart all week; words from a Christian pastor and theologian who practiced what he preached even when it cost him everything. Dietrich Bonhoeffer was German pastor during the rise of Nazi Germany when the church was […]
Scriptures:Deuteronomy 6:1-9Luke 18:15-17 Despite the morning scramble it inevitably produced, “Show and Tell” was a favorite day when the kids were little. Finding just the right thing to fit the designated theme, whether it was by color, season, or letter, was a good game. Although, I’m surprised that our preschool didn’t ban Show and Tell […]
Scriptures: Luke 10:1-11; 2 Kings 5:1-14 Back after the exodus from Egypt, able to anticipate how the power would corrupt the nation, rule by king was not the model God desired for God’s people, Israel. But when the people begged again and again for a sovereign like their neighbors had, God reluctantly obliged and gave […]
Join us for a special sermon from the Installation Service of Pastor Stephanie Anthony as the Lead Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Allentown. This sermon was preached on Saturday, June 28, 2025 by the Rev. Eliana Maxim, Co-Executive Presbyter of the Seattle Presbytery. The scripture reading (Acts 9:36-43) and Prayer for Illumination were lead […]
A social media post from contemporary English author and theologian, Dr. Joy Marie Clarkson, circulates all the major platforms every once in a while. It reminds us: This is your gentle reminder that one time in the Bible Elijah was like “God, I’m so mad! I want to die!” so God said “Here’s some food. […]