Epworth News

Stewardship – The Greatest Hits Deuteronomy 8:11-18 November 15, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church, Berkeley, California Four weeks ago this very minute, I was sitting up there in the bass section when Linda forced us to say the word “again” — again and again. And I thought to myself, “Boy, she’s got that right. Every Fall it’s the same old thing: preaching a stewardship sermon — again and again.” And not only that, she’s doing four of them, in addition to bringing me ou

Stumbling towards Hope. An adult engagement with Hosea. From the Rev. Charley Lerrigo, Epworth UMC, Berkeley 24 July 2016 This morning’s reading comes from the Prophecy of Hosea, as translated by Eugene Peterson, with a few adaptations, and merged with translations from the Good News Bible.(your pew bible) It is a conflation of several translations, but is hopefully true to an ancient text from thousands of years ago. The first time God spoke to Hosea, God said: Hosea, find

Who Are You and What Does God Have to Do With It Matthew 12:48-50 August 16, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church Linda Loessberg-Zahl Clara had insomnia one night and ended up looking at a online shopping site that was selling wrinkle reduction face cream -- guaranteed. (Just as it’s dangerous to go grocery shopping when you’re hungry, it’s dangerous to go online shopping when you’re exhausted.) She bought a large bottle of Hydra Moisture Mask. For $29.99 you could throw

Identity Search: Who is God? 1 John 4:7-12 August 9, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church Linda Loessberg-Zahl “Who is God?” How’s that for an ambitious sermon title? It’s arrogant to think we will ever fully answer that question in our lifetime, much less in one sermon. Yet, the question of God comes up eventually as we live our lives, trying to determine what is real, what has meaning. When have you wondered about God? When have you asked, “Who is God – really?” Lucy s

The Most Intriguing Question Proverbs 2:1-5 July 12, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church Linda Loessberg-Zahl We are born curious. We just look around and questions come up. We have questions about how things work, how people work. Eventually we get to questions about meaning, how it all began, questions about God, questions for God. We read children’s questions in Children’s Letters to God (real letters written by children to God).[i] Some questions are fun: Norma wri

LOUD AND OBSTREPEROUS: THE PROBLEM WITH PROPHECY A Sermon by Charley Lerrigo June 28, 2015 Epworth UMC Berkeley On Exodus 3:7-11 and Isaiah 6:1-8 I want to preach this morning on two topics that usually don’t treated together: Prophecy. And Privilege. I want to help us see how the Bible deals with prophecy and privilege. I want to invite us to think of prophets not just as people who – usually loudly and obstreperously – get in our face about the wickedness of our day.

Naturemade Living Job 38:1-11 and Mark 4:35-41 Paying attention forms one of the critical and confusing traits of preaching. Here is an account of what happened when I paid attention. At first glance these two readings do not seem to have much in common other than bluster: God’s speech and the storm. Job appears more confident than the disciples in the midst of crisis. God berates Job but Jesus begins to do the same but then functions as a calming presence. I selected these r

The Power of Presence Acts 2 May 24, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church Linda Loessberg-Zahl The humor columnist Dave Barry wrote about the power of electricity and the genius of Thomas Edison in inventing the electric company: "...the electric company sends electricity through a wire to a customer, then immediately gets the electricity back through another wire, then (this is the brilliant part) sends it right back to the customer again. [So] an electric company can sell a

Closer than We Think Psalm 124; Romans 8:26-28, 31-39 April 26, 2015 Epworth United Methodist Church Linda Loessberg-Zahl Do you have any idea what this is? It’s the site where something that seemed impossible was accomplished. It’s the Golden Gate Strait. When have you found yourself facing an abyss, uncertain about the next step or frozen in place? When have you looked down at a chasm of crisis, or faced a pit of despair? When have you wondered how you would get across the

It’s Dangerous to Preach on Mother’s Day! 2 Corinthians 4:4-12 Epworth United Methodist Church May 10, 2015 It’s dangerous to preach on Mother’s Day! I thought of wearing protective gear, but it wouldn’t look great with my liturgical garb. It’s dangerous to preach on the subject of Mother’s Day, for a myriad of reasons. As you know, this day brings up vastly different thoughts and emotions for people. Some people have wonderful mothers. Some have not so wonderful mothers.