Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

Now I know this is an Old Testament text today, but the hospitality that Jesus calls us to is what Sarah and Abraham put into practice here in the 18th chapter of Genesis. The meal that Sarah and Abraham provide is a foretaste of the heavenly banquets that we all will experience here at communion. Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, as part of a sermon series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 18:1-15.

When Abraham and Sarah leave their trifecta of “land, birthplace, and family home,” they leave much of their own known world in their going forth in faith. Their movement is spiritual and existential, in addition to being geographical. We might even call it conversion. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Trinity Sunday, the second in "Beginnings," a series on Genesis. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 12:1-4.

I have often said that the world as God created it is one of beauty and harmony, but we live “after the Fall,” and it is that fallen state into which Christ has come as God’s own Son to redeem us. As believers in Christ’s ultimate redemption, we await and live toward “a new heaven and a new earth” that Christ alone will bring. In this reading of the first eleven chapters of Genesis, the differences we experience as human beings – which seem so ever more challenging and violent this week – grow out of the Fall and form part of that from which God promises to redeem us. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Pentecost Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Genesis 1:1-5, 26-31, and 11:1-9.

My study of parables often led me to separate the parable proper from the interpretation that Jesus often gave them in telling them. In a playful mood, I would sometimes reverse the order of events to see if a different outcome might illumine the story as Jesus told it. I would often try to look at a parable from the viewpoint of different characters within it. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Seventh Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Luke 10:25-37.

We have something notable to celebrate today. Today we celebrate the sustaining power at the fringes: power moving on the margins of church and community, on the margins of faith and hope, of society and nation. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Sixth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Luke 8:43-48.

The Christians in First Peter who heard this call were not living in easy times. They were living a quarter a century after the death and resurrection of Christ. They were living in Rome. They were a minority, subject to persecution, some episodic, some systematic. They suffered for their faith, and knew they might be called upon at any time to given an account of why they believed the way they believed. And they were re-shaping their faith in light of the fact that Christ had not returned as many had expected soon after his death and resurrection. Yet still they are being summoned. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fifth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 Peter 2:2-10.

"Let us remember Jesus as he was, rather than as we want him to be." The intention of this prayer from the Book of Common Worship is to encourage us to remember all of Jesus, hopefully reminding us that we are made in the image of God, not in the image of our idealized Christ. Rev. Jacob Bolton preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is John 10:1-10.

Despite its glory, or perhaps because of it, the First Letter of Peter also turns its attention to the rough and tumble, weal and woe, of life on earth. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is 1 Peter 1:3-9, 13-25.

On this the 2nd Sunday of Easter, let us remember that resurrection is not about a certain day of the year but about an orientation to life, death, and life after death. This day, I invite you to remember that we all are witnesses, to remember when the name of God, the name of Jesus, became more than a mere word to you. Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Second Sunday of Easter. The Scripture lesson is Acts 2:14a, 22-32.

Perhaps in all those Easters we have anticipated and celebrated – with the size of the congregation, the beauty of the weather, the conviviality of the gathering, the suits and dresses and hats – we have overlooked that the first Easter emerged in darkness for people who like Mary were traumatized: going to a tomb at night, finding its entrance unsealed and presumably invaded by grave-robbers. Easter doesn’t occur in the light. But it brings the light. While it is still dark, Easter brings light.

There are many questions that the continuous sweep of a pandemic has raised for us the past few weeks. For all these questions – theological and human – some will soon have answers, some will have answers in time, and some will never have answers. But there is one thing with which we are left: the witness of our fellow human beings. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Palm Sunday. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 21:1-11, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.

Hebrews boasts that “we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved.” This assurance can only emerge from those who have been met by God not just in their strength, but in their weakness. Not those whom God finds to be puffed up, but those who are shrunken down. Not those who are found and can see, but those who are blind, and lost. That’s what we need. We need to be met where we are, to go where God would have us be. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on the Fifth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Hebrews 4:14-16.

On a small scale, I never thought I could accept that the worship of God could occur – at least for me – without the congregation being gathered, in the Sanctuary, in the Chapel, worshipping as a community. But when I walked into this Sanctuary last Sunday, even though the pews were empty, the place was filled with the Spirit. And this week whenever a familiar face has appeared on the monitor I now have set up in my basement, that even though location changes and media of communication is new, the face or faces on the screen are community, the community with whom I worship, the community I love, the community of Westminster Presbyterian Church. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is selected verses from Number 13-14, read by Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy.

I was tearful on Friday when our Session made the final but correct decision – in a conference call in which nearly all thirty-three members participated – to cancel all our activities, to livestream our worship, and to close our facilities. It was clearly the right decision, but I never thought I would see the day when I would say, “I’m sorry, but you cannot enter this house of worship.” Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the the Third Sunday during Lent. The Scripture lesson is Proverbs 6:6-11 (Revised Standard Version), and is read by Rev. Jacob Bolton.

Engage John Calvin’s "Institutes of the Christian Religion," that lengthy and often argumentative exposition of our faith by our tradition’s seminal theologian and leader. Join us as Patrick reflects on his pilgrimage of reading and reflection and shares some of the inspirations and astonishments he encountered along the way. Come to discover how this book, so foundational to our historically held beliefs, can challenge and re-orient our contemporary faith, opening us to a more grounded and wonder-filled living of the gospel today.

During an illness, King Hezekiah, one of the three vaulted kings of Israel, is told by the prophet Isaiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.” In this sermon, we will see how Hezekiah faces news of his impending death. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the Second Sunday in Lent, when the Westminster choir presents the Bach cantata, "God's Time Is the Best of All Times." The Scripture lesson is Isaiah 38:1-8, and is read by Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt.

No matter how bleak or insignificant a human life seems to be, the most important thing is to seek wisdom, to seek a wise heart, to seek a heart that begins with awe, reverence, respect for the Lord as the first principle and animating force for life. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the First Sunday in Lent. The Scripture lesson is Psalm 90.

Engage John Calvin’s "Institutes of the Christian Religion," that lengthy and often argumentative exposition of our faith by our tradition’s seminal theologian and leader. Join us as Patrick reflects on his pilgrimage of reading and reflection and shares some of the inspirations and astonishments he encountered along the way. Come to discover how this book, so foundational to our historically held beliefs, can challenge and re-orient our contemporary faith, opening us to a more grounded and wonder-filled living of the gospel today.

Rev. Frank Wade, former interim dean of the Washington National Cathedral and rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church, will lead this four-Sunday series. The ancient Jewish practice of ‘midrash’ (to enquire, to seek) is a unique way to explore the common threads of the humanity we share with our biblical ancestors. Christianity has not fully claimed the harvest midrash provides. Frank Wade’s latest book is an attempt to reclaim that part of our religious heritage. Most of us have never met, much less learned from, the wives of Moses and Peter, Paul’s sister, Jesus’ brothers or the man behind the dark story of Judas. This forum series will talk of the practice of midrash and its access to some of the people found on the Bible’s edges.

Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Scripture lesson is Matthew 5:22-26, and is read by Boy Scout Drew Berlett.