by Anne Robertson | Oct 10, 2021 | Sermons
Those of us in religious professions are always asked about our “sense of call.” How did we come to know and experience God calling us into our various forms of ministry? But the focus on religious vocations has often led people to assume that God doesn’t call people to other types of service or professions. I believe God is calling each and every person as well as the churches, organizations, and corporate entities of which they are a part.
So in this sermon we’re going to begin a conversation about calling and vocation both inside and outside the church. How can we know it’s God’s voice on the phone? Is there some kind of purpose for my life; and, if so, how do I figure that out? What might God be calling Crawford to be and do as we bring our individual callings together for the greater good?
Your phone is ringing. There’s a notification for you on the God app. Join us to explore the ways God might be trying to help you find fulfillment and purpose.
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
by Anne Robertson | Sep 12, 2021 | Sermons
This week, the nation is focused on the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attack, which remains the deadliest terror attack in world history. Across the two towers, the Pentagon, and the Pennsylvania field, 2977 people were killed and more than 6,000 others were injured. We have only just now ended the war that attack began.
But while 9/11 was a single day of terror, we are still in the grips of something infinitely worse. Over 650,000 Americans have died from Covid since the start of the pandemic. Over 32,000 have died in the US just in the past 28 days. And the war on science, truth, and compassion that has ensued is merely in its infancy.
This Sunday we are going to talk about the ways that grief and traumatic events dismember us and how we can heal through re-membering instead of merely recalling those wounds. When done with love, we can re-member the past in a way that creates a strong foundation for moving into the future, whether we have been dismembered by events in our world or in our individual lives. It takes us all, together. Will you join me?
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
by Anne Robertson | Aug 29, 2021 | Sermons
People ask questions related to heaven and/or hell, so I try address them with the only time Jesus gives us any detailed picture of how such judgments are made. The Bible passage is probably familiar to many of you; it’s Matthew 25: 31-46.
While we’ll focus on those verses, passages of the Bible should always be read in context. Jesus has not been in a good mood since his triumphal entry into Jerusalem in Matthew 21; and between there and the end of chapter 25, there is a lot of anger and parables that end with a good bit of woe-unto-you and gnashing of teeth. So, if you want to prep for this sermon, read from Matthew 21 through Matthew 26:4 to get a sense of the broader context.
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
by Anne Robertson | Aug 22, 2021 | Sermons
On this particular Sunday we welcomed two people into membership at Crawford and had the enormous privilege of baptizing their daughter. This provides not only a wonderful time of celebration (cake at coffee hour!) but also an opportunity to consider what we believe is happening at the time of a baptism.
As you watch you can think more deeply about this foundational sacrament of the church.
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
by Anne Robertson | Aug 15, 2021 | Sermons
“What’s wrong with calling God ‘Father?’” My response is nuanced, so I invite you to read and think about this old Indian folktale (below), told in verse by John Godfrey Saxe.
Watch or Read
After you’ve watched, be sure to subscribe to our channel!
The Blind Man and the Elephant, by John Godfrey Saxe
It was six men of Indostan, to learning much inclined,
who went to see the elephant (Though all of them were blind),
that each by observation, might satisfy his mind.
The first approached the elephant, and, happening to fall,
against his broad and sturdy side, at once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the elephant, is nothing but a wall!”
The second feeling of the tusk, cried: “Ho! what have we here,
so very round and smooth and sharp? To me tis mighty clear,
this wonder of an elephant, is very like a spear!”
The third approached the animal, and, happening to take,
the squirming trunk within his hands, “I see,” quoth he,
the elephant is very like a snake!”
The fourth reached out his eager hand, and felt about the knee:
“What most this wondrous beast is like, is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“Tis clear enough the elephant is very like a tree.”
The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear, Said; “E’en the blindest man
can tell what this resembles most; Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an elephant, is very like a fan!”
The sixth no sooner had begun, about the beast to grope,
than, seizing on the swinging tail, that fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the elephant is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan, disputed loud and long,
each in his own opinion, exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right, and all were in the wrong!
So, oft in theologic wars, the disputants, I ween,
tread on in utter ignorance, of what each other mean,
and prate about the elephant, not one of them has seen!
