Sermons
Weekly professional powerhouse sermons by Leonard Sweet.
Choice and Consequences: or, What is the Unpardonable Sin?
Choice and Consequences: or, What Is The Unpardonable Sin? 07 June 2015 Lectionary 1 Samuel 8:4-20 (11:14-15) Psalm 138 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 Mark 3:20-35 Text to Life (based on Mark 3:20-35) One of the biggest lies we learned as children was this one from a 19th century nursery rhyme: …
Left Behind?
Left Behind? Lectionary Isaiah 6:1-8 Psalm 29 Romans 8:12-17 John 3:1-17 Text to Life Sermon As kids we all learned “short hand” and “semaphors”–the art of using symbols to replace words. Now this talent has academic standing as “semiotics”—- the ability to read and communicate with symbols and signs,…
Greater Things
Greater Things Lectionary 24 May 2015 Pentecost Sunday Acts 2:1-21 Psalm 104:24-34, 35b Romans 8:22-27 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15 Text to Life (based on John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15) It’s that time of year. Parents have a big decision to make. . . . Summer camp or no summer camp? Summer camp…
What’s In A Name?
What’s In A Name? Lectionary: Acts 1:1-11 Psalm 47 Ephesians 1:15-23 Luke 24:44-53 Sermon (special selection based on John 17:6-19) The Day of Ascension 17 May 2015 There is a simple, amoeba-ish creature that lives by taking advantage of moist, marginal, unimpressive environments (think squishy, icky places like those…
That Family Tree
That Family Tree Lectionary: The Sixth Sunday of Easter Mother’s Day Acts 10:44-48 Psalm 98 1 John 5:1-6 John 15:9-17 Sermon: That Family Tree 1 John 5:1-6 Nothing changes your life more than becoming a parent. Whether you are a birth Mom or Dad, an adoptive Mom or…
The Divine Vine
The Divine Vine 03 May 2015 Fifth Sunday of Easter Lectionary: Acts 8:26-40 Psalm 22:25-31 1 John 4:7-21 John 15:1-8 Sermon: The Divine Vine Lifeblood. When you hear that word, what do you think? Perhaps our first thought when we hear that term is the blood that circulates throughout…
Lay it Down
Acts 4:5-12 Psalm 23 1 John 3:16-24 John 10:11-18 Fourth Sunday of Easter The Cannes Film Festival is one of the most sizzling-hot, celebrity events of the star-studded cinema world. It takes place in the sun on the French Riviera, just when the rest of us are still shivering…
Staying Power
Lectionary for April 19, 2015: Acts 3:12-10 Psalm 4 1 John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48 In 2009 yet another new word was added to those dictionaries that authorize new words. It’s a word that had already been kicking around for several years, but didn’t get officially allowed into the English…
The Third Kiss
Is there anyone who doesn’t remember their “first kiss?” Whether it was sweet, silly, shy, mislaid or sloppy—-you remember the details. You can tell the story of the who, where, why and when of how it happened. It is one of those life moments that we might either embrace or be embarrassed by.