Seeing the Thirsty as God Does
Sunday, September 25 2011 - 0 comments
Scripture Texts: Exodus 17:1-7 and Philippians 2:1-13 In the remote village of Foro, in the Konso district of southwestern Ethiopia, the life of a woman centers around one thing: providing for the thirst of your family. And by “thirst,” I don’t mean desires and dreams; I mean literal thirst. At least three times a day (sometimes, as many as five), every day of the year, the women and girls of the village climb the steep mountain on which they live, down and up, back and forth, 50 pounds of water strapped to their backs on each return journey back up the mountain. It takes an hour to reach...
"'You Have Heard That it Was Said, But I Say to You:' Accountability to God In and Beyond Scripture"
Monday, February 21 2011 - 3 comments
Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski; February 20, 2011; Ephiphany 7, Year A; Lectionary Texts: Matthew 5:38-48 and I Corinthians 3:10-23 Because my children’s time/sermon introduced the message of my sermon, I will include them here, before the text of my sermon. My Call to Worship also helped to introduce my focus, consisting of call and response Biblical texts often viewed as contradicting one another. Children’s Time/Sermon (introducing the message with our children’s help): For children’s time, I brought the pulpit Bible with me as I sat among them, as well as two pictures:...
“Arrows in the Quiver of God” or “Why We Shouldn't Let Sleeping Dogs Lie”
Sunday, January 16 2011 - isaiah, arrows, politics, dominant-discourse, conflict, listening, congress, i-corinthians - 0 comments
Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski; January 15-16, 2011; Scripture Texts: Isaiah 49:1-7 and I Corinthians 1:1-17 George and Jason were two second graders that couldn’t have seemed any more different. George was a blond-haired, spectacle-wearing, neat-as-a-pin kid who wanted to become the President of the United States someday. He came from a wealthy family where his parents were professionals in their fields of work. At the early age of eight, George was obsessed with good grades, raising his hand to answer questions faster than anyone else in class and using whatever latest big...
"Treasure Hunting"
Sunday, August 08 2010 - luke, rich, riches, treasure, worth, family, africa, lesotho, cultural - 0 comments
Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski; August 7-8, 2010; Scripture Text: Luke 12:13-21 There is a story in one of my mother’s cookbooks that has grabbed my attention since I was a teenager. Over the years, I have forgotten it and been delighted to rediscover it when happening to sift through soup recipes at my parent’s home. In the handful of times I have run across it, I always linger to read it and refresh myself in a view of the world increasingly different from those views to which our culture has come to instill. The story goes like this: Brenda was an American woman who spent three years...
“Thou Shalt Not Stamp ‘Null and Void’ On the Grace of God”
Sunday, June 13 2010 - communion, christ, table, galatians, grace, apostle, paul, children - 0 comments
Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski; June 12-13, 2010; Scripture Text: Galatians 2:15-21 An important note on the church of my childhood follows this sermon. Some of you know that I have not been U.C.C. all my life. I was born into a Nazarene family – both immediate and extended. My parents’ (and my subsequent) journey away from the Nazarene church only came after we had relocated to the Midwest for my father to attend the big Nazarene seminary in Kansas City. That was before he discovered, much to the family’s chagrin after that big move, that he was at odds with the Nazarene church...
“What’d You Get For Christmas? A New Family!” or "Griswold Family Christmases and Yearnings for Adoption"
Sunday, January 03 2010 - ephesians, christ, adoption, family-of-god, christmas, gift, perfect - 0 comments
Rev. Leah Atkinson Bilinski; Jan. 2-3, 2010; Scripture Texts: Ephesians 1:3-14, Revelation 21:1-7, John 1:10-13 One of my favorite Christmas movies of all time is “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Now, I’m not usually one for goofy humored movies, but for this oddball comedy of an overzealous Christmas fanatic and his wacky family, I’ll usually stop whatever I’m doing to enjoy a few repeated moments of laughter. My favorite part of the movie comes when Cousin Eddie pulls his honking RV into Clark Griswold’s driveway and begins to make himself at...
