Sermons 2026 – Wicomico Presbyterian Church

Under Pressure: How Faith Handles the Test, Part 2: Your Money, Your Life

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 Matthew 22:15-22 Some of us are old enough to remember Jack Benny, the comedian. His comedy made fun of himself for being stingy, miserly. One of his best remembered bits was a man sneaks up behind him and points a gun at him, saying “Your money or your life.” And Jack makes a pained expression and says, “I’m thinking it over!” In real life, I have heard he was actually very generous. It’s a good schtick, because we get it. We know all about the tug of war inside of us when it comes to money and possessions. And, honestly, doesn’t the demand “your money or your life” sound like a trick question? I have had many thoughtful and sincere conversations with people who feel the conflict because we know that, in this world, we cannot live without money. We also know that as we grow old, […]

Under Pressure: How Faith Handles the Test, Part 1: Testing, Testing …

Philippians 4:1-9 Matthew 22:1-14 While Paul sat in a prison cell, he wrote to the Philippian church, “Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Some days we might hang on to these words like a life preserver. If only we could do this. Toward the end of the book of Acts, there is a story about Paul being arrested, one of many times this happened to him during his ministry. Paul saw the inside of many jail cells. This time he has been taken to Caesarea and is brought before the governor, Felix. Caesarea was the capital of the Roman government in Palestine. The lawyer for the Jewish authorities, Tertullus, begins to make his case. He says, “We find this man, Paul, […]

Under Construction, Part 4: A Finished Work in Progress

Romans 12:1-8 Genesis lays out the story of God’s creation of the world as six days of work. And then a day of rest. Time to admire this thing God made. Now we have reached the end of this series – Under Construction: A Spiritual Journey of Transformation. And we are at the end of the construction project in our sanctuary. For now. But the reality is there is always more to do. There is always change. As long as Wicomico Presbyterian Church exists, there will be change. As long as we are living, there is opportunity for growth. And so, while we now rest from the work of this renovation project, we know that God is not finished with is. And for the work of spiritual growth, we know that we are always a work in progress. In the 12th chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans, we see […]

Under Construction, Part 3: Wired for Power

Romans 8:1-11 There have been times during this chancel renovation project when it feels like nothing is happening. Every morning I come in and open the sanctuary door with anticipation. And there have been days when I would see – well, nothing new. Day after day it looked the same. Like nothing was happening. But something was happening, actually: the wiring. All kinds of work was going on under the surface to wire us for power. We have electrical outlets, and audio connections for speakers and microphones. We have special outlets for the organ to be plugged in when it arrives. And wiring that will all be needed for the organ to play. So much was happening under the surface. As it happens in life, many critical works are hidden from our eyes. Such as the work of the Spirit. We don’t see the Spirit of God. We hardly know […]

Under Construction, Part 2: The Scaffolding

Psalm 100 Romans 5:1-8 Sometimes when you are doing a big construction or remodeling project, one of the first things you have to do is build scaffolding – a framework that enables you to work at high levels. The scaffolding provides the support you need while you are getting the work done. And then when you finish the work, you take the scaffolding down. Scaffolding is always meant to be temporary. For this chancel project we haven’t needed that kind of scaffolding, because the work has been pretty much at ground level. We did need it, however, a few years ago during the project to repair and refinish the sanctuary walls. You can see how high the walls are. Scaffolding was necessary. Scaffolding is a familiar term in construction. But it is also used in education to describe the tools and processes that are useful in helping someone learn a […]

Under Construction, Part 1: Blueprint

Psalm 139:13-16 Romans 3:21-28 One of the things my mother used to say was, “Move is a four-letter word.” You see, we moved a lot during my childhood, and it was never a thing she was excited about. I think it is safe to say my mother did not like change all that much. In that way, she was no different from most people. They say the only one who likes change is a baby with a wet diaper. That’s almost true. Change is, most of the time, a pain. It is disruptive. This work we are doing right now in the sanctuary is clearly disruptive to our worship patterns. We have to adjust. We have to do some things differently. Change is messy. And that covers everything from changing the baby’s diaper to renovations to repaving roads and everything else. There is always some clean-up to do after a […]

Finding the Right Key

Matthew 16:13-20 A pastor named Ryan Burge has been making a name for himself – although not for pastoral work. Ryan left his full-time ministry in the American Baptist Church some years ago and now works in academia as a demographer. He studies and writes about the numbers. And the numbers tell Ryan that the middle is falling out of the church. His research finds that the church is becoming increasingly polarized – which is not surprising, because our society is growing increasingly polarized. But one thing I found interesting: Ryan attributes this change in the church to the decline in the mainline denominations, including the PC(USA). Membership in our denomination – along with others like the United Methodist, the Episcopalian, the United Church of Christ, the Evangelical Lutherans, and the American Baptists – has been declining for many years now. These churches were at one time the backbone of […]

Redeeming Time

Genesis 45:1-15 Some years ago When I was a campus minister, I knew a student named Megan – a very dear young woman. She had many beautiful qualities, but one that really endeared her to me was this ability Meagan had to find the silver lining in everything. Megan could find something hopeful in every disappointment, and she would always say: “In a way, I’m glad this happened,” and then she would tell me how she had found some new opportunity in the setback. Megan had a talent for reframing her disappointments. Megan had her share of disappointments, thankfully all of them the non-life-threatening kind. I don’t know how she would have handled a real crisis, the kind of thing Joseph was thrown into again and again and again. I hope she never has to. So much has happened to Joseph since he was trotted off to Egypt with the […]

Dreams that Disturb

Genesis 37:1-28 When we reach the story of Joseph, we know we are near the end of this Genesis narrative. Let’s consider for a moment where it has taken us. From the beginning, when God created the world as we know it, to the calling of a man and his family, to the formation of a people, Israel, and now to the shaping of a state. It is not the state of Israel, of course – Joseph’s story takes us to Egypt. But it is the first story about living in a large society, about a nation with power to govern and organize and care for a people. The story of Joseph is really much more than a story about one individual. Sunday school lessons love Joseph and his coat, which may or may not have been colorful. There are actually more ways of translating the description of Joseph’s coat […]

Eating with Jesus

Matthew 14:13-21 Every Sunday morning we take a bit of the scriptures to read and proclaim for the day. And so often it is the case that the passage begins with words that will pique our curiosity, as they do today. “Now when Jesus heard this…” And you wonder: What did Jesus hear? Why did he withdraw from everyone? What happened that he felt the need to be alone? What he heard was that his friend John had been executed by Herod. John the Baptizer – his cousin, according to Luke; the one who had prepared the way for Jesus’ ministry, baptizing and proclaiming that one greater than he was coming; John, the one who baptized Jesus. He had been arrested by Herod because Herod did not like what John was saying, nor did Herod’s wife. John was a prophet and he often said things that were offensive. The truth […]

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