Covenant United Methodist Church

People don’t always respond to the gospel.  Part of that is that they don’t always see past us.  As Paul reminds us, it is not ourselves that we proclaim, but Christ, but our problem is that we have only ourselves, our personalities and our experiences, to do that with.  Sometimes those get in the way.

Jesus' way of healing a leper points to the strength that people can find in connection with one another and the grace that comes from facing whatever we face together with the Lord.

Some evils are so deeply embedded that Jesus, and only Jesus, can remove them from the human soul.

There are times when life takes a sudden turn for the sake of the gospel.

To be known by Jesus is to be loved by Jesus -- and he knows us all.

This sermon, by Pastor Lawrence R. Bergstresser, was preached at Covenant UMC, Springfield, PA, on January 1, 2012.

We worship a God who took on our own humanity in every way, and lived it out perfectly, getting right all that we so often get wrong, steering away from all those traps where we set ourselves up as smarter than our Creator, as wiser than the Lord of the universe.  He didn’t get caught up in any of that.  He lived a life, not of power-seeking, but of love.

This sermon, by Pastor Lawrence R. Bergstresser, was preached at Covenant UMC, Springfield, PA, on December 24, 2011.

We Christians celebrate two Christmases.  The first is a secular holiday celebration that starts roughly on November 1 with the pre-Christmas sales, and finds its climax on Christmas Day when all those purchases are redistributed.  The other Christmas is a sacred religious and spiritual celebration of the birth of Jesus, with a focus on the wonder of God living in this world in a human being: God with us.  This birthday celebration is much quieter.  It is located in our homes and churches and within our own hearts and spirits.

Every year, Pastor Mark writes a poem for a Christmas Eve sermon.  Here is this year's.

No matter how long it takes, God's promises come to fulfillment.