Sermons for November 2019


Buried Treasure

Sun, November 24, 2019; Parable of The Talents • Matthew 25: 14-30
A sermon preached by Rev. Jane McBride
First Congregational Church of MN, UCC

Robin Wall Kimmerer is a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. In her book Braiding Sweetgrass, she weaves together scientific and indigenous ways of knowing. As I wrestled with today’s parable of the talents, the following passage spoke to me. She writes: I once sat in a graduate writing workshop on relationships… Read More

Left out in the Field

Sun, November 17, 2019; Luke 15:11–32
A sermon preached by Rev. Jane McBride
First Congregational Church of MN, UCC

Today’s parable does not come to a tidy conclusion. Joy mingles with heartbreak as this family responds to the homecoming of the younger brother. At the end of the story, we are left standing out in the field with Dad and his elder son. It’s a mess of big feelings and hard, unanswered questions. It’s… Read More

Reflections on Access Sunday

Sun, November 10, 2019;
First Congregational Church of MN, UCC

Hikaru Peterson: I’m here, on behalf of Shari DeZelar and myself, to share about “person-first language.” What do we mean by “person-first language”? According to Wikipedia: People-first . . . [or] person-first language . . . is a type of linguistic prescription which puts a person before a diagnosis, describing what a person “has” rather… Read More