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Love Is… Complicated!

Date: October 1, 2023
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13-14:1
Guest Preacher: Elder Caroline Kurtz

Good morning, Westminster Presbyterian Church! Since I have the floor, I want to begin by thanking everyone for your support of the work I’ve been doing in a remote corner of Ethiopia where my parents went under the United Presbyterian Church when I was five years old. I went back five years ago and started … read

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Grace Isn’t Fair (That’s What Makes It Grace)

Date: September 24, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 20:1-15
Preacher: Rev. Beth Neel

People really do not like this parable! It flies in the face of everything we think is fair; it negates our belief that hard work pays off; it convicts us with that last line “…are you envious because I am generous?” If Frederick Buechner and Lindsey are right, and parables are like jokes that Jesus … read

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Another Problematic Parable: Do We Have to Forgive Jerks?

Date: September 17, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 18:21-35
Preacher: Rev. Lindsey Hubbard-Groves

Our text picks up where we left off last week, so I want to give you additional context for where we were in worship last week, too. You all did an excellent job welcoming me with a thoughtful litany, since my full-time contract started this month; thank you for that. However, if you were here … read

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Conflict and Waffles

Date: September 10, 2023
Scripture: Matthew 18:15-20
Preacher: Rev. Beth Neel

An oyster makes a pearl because some sort of irritant has entered the shell, so that irritant must be covered with nacre, that luminous coating that we string into necklaces. A child enters the world only through the painful contraction of muscles and the expulsion from the comforting, safe waters of the womb into a … read

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Holy Ground

Date: September 3, 2023
Scripture: Exodus 3:1-15
Preacher: Rev. Chris Dela Cruz

“Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” Earlier in June, Westminster took some of our high schoolers and went to S.L.A.M. Trips, run by and hosted by an indigenous organization on the Yakama Reservation. The goal was explicitly to learn from Native folks and reverse … read

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Membering

Date: August 27, 2023
Scripture: Romans 12:1-8
Preacher: Rev. Beth Neel

Do you ever feel like someone starts talking with you but they start in the middle of a conversation? Take today’s passage from the beginning of Romans 12. In that first verse Paul uses the word “therefore” which makes it seem like we’ve missed something. So let me sum up the first eleven chapters of … read

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