They Dared to Inhale: God’s Breath and the Birth of the Church - Sermon for Pentcost Sunday, May 24, 2026

Pursuing Love: A Trinity Sunday Sermon - May 31, 2026

SUMMARY On Trinity Sunday, Mother Suzanne leads her congregation through an exploration of one of the Christian faith's most central and mysterious doctrines — the Trinity. Drawing on images like St. Patrick's shamrock and the concept of the "divine dance," she unpacks the three-in-one nature of God as not merely a theological abstraction, but an intimate, living reality that shapes how believers relate to God, to themselves, and to one another. Ultimately, she reminds her congregation that we are forever pursued by a God whose very nature is love and relationship. THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              Matthew 28:16-20 The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Artwork: The Trinity, Laurent Girardin - 1455

They Dared to Inhale: God’s Breath and the Birth of the Church - Sermon for Pentcost Sunday, May 24, 2026

SUMMARY On the Day of Pentecost, Mother Suzanne invites her congregation to celebrate the birthday of the church — the moment when the Holy Spirit transformed a small, frightened group of 120 disciples into a fearless, Spirit-filled body of thousands. Just as the disciples were empowered to go into the world as the hands and feet of Jesus, so too are believers today called to inhale God's breath and carry that same Spirit into their communities. Mother Suzanne closes by inviting those who have been led to Grace Church to sign the Book of Belonging and claim it as their spiritual home. THE GOSPEL John 20:19-23 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” Artwork:  The Pentecost

Pilgrimage of the Heart: Finding God in the Everyday - Ed Carrette's Homily for the Sixth Sunday of Easter - May 10, 2026

SUMMARY In this Mother's Day sermon, Grace Community Missioner Ed Carrette draws on the image of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage to remind us that the spiritual life cannot be rushed. Drawing from Jesus' promise, "I will not leave you orphaned," Ed calls us to slow down, pay attention, and discover that God has been walking beside us all along. The goal, he reminds us, is not to arrive faster, but to become aware of the presence that has never left us. A reading from the Gospel of John                                                                                                   John 14:15-21     Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you. ”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” Artwork:  Mother Suzanne and Andrew at km. 0.000 The Camino De Santiago

Chosen and Precious: Living Stones in Faith - Mother Nan Doerr's Sermon for the Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 3, 2026

SUMMARY Mother Nan Doerr draws on the letters of Peter and the Gospel of John to remind believers that even when rejected by the world, they are chosen and precious in God's sight. Just as the early followers of the Way were cast out of synagogues yet continued to spread the Gospel, so too are we called to become living stones in God's spiritual house. To know God, we need only look to Jesus — the way, the truth, and the life. THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                                            John 14:1-14 Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.”  Artwork:  Carl Bloch (Collection 1865-1879)

Pots, Dr. Pepper, and God's Abundant Grace - The Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 26, 2026

SUMMARY Mother Suzanne draws on the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd to remind her congregation that Christ came not to offer a half-hearted, mediocre existence, but a life that is overflowing and abundant. Through the moving story of Roxanne, a single mother in recovery, she illustrates how the economy of God works through small, intentional acts of love — a snack, a Dr. Pepper, and a cooking pot. Living abundantly, she reminds us, is not about worldly goods, but about choosing hope, generosity, and trust in a God who desires good for each of us. THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              John 10:1-10 Jesus said, “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”  Artwork: The Good Shepherd, Bernhard Plockhorst (1878)