by Crawford UMC | Sep 6, 2020 | Sermons
At Crawford we are having a Service of Blessing, outdoors, on the first Sunday of each month. What we bless will change from month to month, but the theme remains the same: Let’s counter the dark and difficult days in which we live with small acts of kindness and blessing.
This video is in four parts, each of which is also posted separately on our channel. Part I: “Why We Bless Things” by Rev. Anne Robertson Part II: “How to Make an Aspergillum” by Jessica Rubenstein (a craft project) Part III: “Blessing of the Ground Instructions” by Rev. Anne Robertson (specifics for the first Blessing service on Sept. 6, 2020) Part IV: “Vibrations” by Shota Weaver (A wildlife short film, used here with permission. To view this piece separately, visit Shota Weaver’s channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMf97…)
Watch it all here.
If you want to just check out the parts individually:
- Why We Bless Things (video by Pastor Anne)
- Craft Project: How to Make an Aspergillum (video by Jessica)
- Blessing of the Ground—What to Expect on September 6 (video by Pastor Anne)
- Vibrations: A Nature Video by Shota Weaver
The Blessing of the Ground service was live on Sunday, September 6, 2020. You can see the highlights here.
by Crawford UMC | Aug 30, 2020 | Sermons
Our individual purpose and calling takes some discernment, but it’s hard to figure out what God’s purpose for us as an individual might be until we understand the general purpose for all human beings. Genesis 2:15 gives us that universal human purpose: To serve and protect the world. Come for the nerdy Bible word analyses, stay for the purpose of the human race, and go away with a divine mandate to take a nap while God finds you some help.
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Texts: Genesis 2:1-9, 15-23; Exodus 20:8-11
Preached by the Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on August 30, 2020
by Crawford UMC | Aug 23, 2020 | Sermons
Genesis 1:28 tells us that God gives “dominion” over the earth to human beings and tells them to “subdue” it. We have run wild with that and, in retrospect, it sometimes seems like a poor management decision on God’s part. Entire theologies have been built around the idea that humans are the pinnacle of God’s creation and that everything else exists to serve us.
But what if that’s wrong? Suppose we are basing all of that on our own human understanding of what it means to have “dominion?” Suppose being made in God’s image means that we’re supposed to exercise dominion in the way God does and not according to human understanding? The rest of the Bible, starting just 18 verses later, teaches us something very different about the way God wants us to use power, culminating in a hill called Mt. Calvary.
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Text: Genesis 1:28
Preached by the Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on August 23, 2020
by Crawford UMC | Aug 16, 2020 | Sermons
“The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.”
Does this sound like a description of your life? It did to me. This sermon does a deep dive into the hope built into the Creation story from the very first verse. That formless void contains all that ever has been and the potential for all that is yet to come. It is the beginning place. We have no need to fear it; we only need to look around for the Spirit of God, hovering somewhere nearby to bring a new, wonder-filled world into being.
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Text: Genesis 1:1
Preached by the Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on August 16, 2020
by Crawford UMC | Aug 9, 2020 | Sermons
Do you have trouble receiving a gift of help or money or care from someone else? It may be more blessed to give than to receive, but if you rebuff someone’s gift, you are keeping them from experiencing that blessing. More than that, if you find it difficult to receive a gift, you might unknowingly be blocking yourself from fully receiving the free gift of God’s grace.
In this second part of the Jabbok River story, Jacob has difficulty receiving the fullness of Esau’s gift of grace, and the story has strong parallels to Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son. Be sure to watch Part I: The Emptying River from August 2 first.
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Texts: Genesis 33:1-17 and Luke 15:11-32
Preached by the Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on August 9, 2020
by Crawford UMC | Aug 2, 2020 | Sermons
Do you sometimes find yourself wrestling with who you are and what you’ve done? Do you get stuck in a place where it’s impossible to go back and you’re afraid to go forward? That’s your Jabbok River moment. Wrestle with it and you’ll come out knowing who you are.
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Text: Genesis 32:22-31
Preached by the Rev. Anne Robertson at Crawford Memorial UMC on August 2, 2020
