Mcfarland United Church Of Christ Sermons

Pastor Kerri Parker's sermon at the McFarland United Church of Christ on April 24th 2011 (Easter)“In Their Own Words: Mary Magdalene”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCCEaster Sunday (April 24, 2011)John 20:1-18“Why are you weeping?” they asked me.As if the simple fact that I was a woman standing alone by a grave in that lonely hour before thesunrise, weren’t enough.I could have given them any number of answers.It wasn’t just those horrible last hours that had me weeping. That was just the beginning ofwhat had me aching inside.My dearest friend, teacher and guide, was gone.Our community, this family that we built, was scattered and grieving. One of our own hadbetrayed us – had betrayed him.Once, we had hope. Once, we were a community. A people. A movement. Our lives hadmeaning, and purpose.And now we were no people. We were alone. I was alone.Why was I weeping? There were millions of answers to that question.But the biggest one was this: someone had taken Jesus’ body. His body was missing. I realizehow absurd tha

http://archive.org/download/MuccSermonMarch11th2012/MUCC_Sermon_20120311.mp3

Acts 2: 1-12As most of you know, I have been enrolled in Lay Academy for the past 3 years. For those that do not knowwhat Lay Academy is; the Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ hosts a Lay Academyprogram, offering courses of study to pastors and lay people who seek to: deepen their faith, strengthenChrist's church, and grow in spiritual maturity.We meet five weekends per year at the Wisconsin Conference Center in DeForest and are usually led byinstructors from various Seminaries or specialists in that subject's particular field. It is a fantastic program andI highly recommend it.I have learned much from my Lay Academy experience. It has been quite a journey so far. From the firstclass on Theology where I was so afraid these classes would be way over my head to my most recent class onEvangelism. My faith has been tested, stretched and has grown more than I could have ever imagined.During our class on the Old Testament we were introduced to the term “exegesis. This Greek word, means acritical e

http://www.archive.org/download/MuccSermon20120108/MUCC_Sermon_20120108.mp3

“Whose Image? God’s Image!”_Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC18th Sunday after Pentecost (October 16, 2011)Matthew 22:15-22The first presidential campaign I had any substantial interest in was the 1992 Clinton campaign.James Carville, a political strategist, was hired to keep everyone “on message.” He posted asign in campaign headquarters to remind everyone of that message: (1) Change vs more of thesame (2) The economy, stupid (3) Don’t forget health care. Point number two morphed into apopular catchphrase: “It’s the economy, stupid.” It was a phrase that caught our imagination,and a message that may well have won the election.Twenty years later, there’s a lot that has changed, and a lot that has stayed the same.Commentators on CNBC might be saying, “It’s the Dow Jones Industrial Average, stupid.” Somecongresspersons say, “It’s the deficit, stupid.” Those who are long-term unemployed maysay, “It’s the jobs, stupid.” The youth and young adults with five-figure student loan balancesand no employment prospects, w

http://archive.org/download/MuccSermonApril29th2012/MUCC_Sermon_20120429.mp3

PresenceRev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCCTransfiguration B (Feb 19, 2012)Mark 9:2-10It’s been a rough week in the McFarland area. The news has been neither uplifting norinspiring. First, there was the news about a 15-year-old young woman who was abused andstarved for years, found walking down the street just north of here.And then there was the news about one of McFarland’s high school seniors, who took his ownlife.People move to small towns in “nice” Wisconsin to get away from things like this, as if goingsomewhere else would make it all better. We want to turn our faces away from it. We want topretend it doesn’t happen – or at least, not here. It’s something you read in the newspapers,or online, something that happens far away, or at least, a while back.And then a week like this bursts into our consciousness, dragging up memories, dragging upfears, confirming our worst nightmares: we can’t get away from it. It’s enough to make youwant to curl into a ball and retreat from the world. “I can’t,” we say – I can’

http://archive.org/download/MuccSermonMay21st2012/MUCC_Sermon_20120513.mp3

Pastor Kerri Parker's March 21st sermon at the McFarland United Church of Christhttp://www.archive.org/download/McfarlandUnitedChurchOfChristSermonFromMarch21st2011/MUCC_sermon_20110321.mp3

“Shake it up”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC______Reformation Sunday (October 30, 2011)Matthew 23:1-13I did a Google search on hypocrisy. Some truly ugly images came up, a decent number aboutpoliticians, but a lot of them about Christians.And Jesus said, “therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do,for they do not practice what they teach.”Ouch.With images like that, is it any wonder that only 17% of people in the U.S. attend church?Really. Seventeen percent. While we’re here in worship, and our friends over at theLutheran church, and Christ the King parish, and the folks up the road at Crossroads Church areworshiping, 83% of the population is doing something else. Away at the cabin, attending roadgames for their kids’ sports, sleeping in, watching a movie on Netflix, having brunch with thefamily, working,…the list of opportunities for your Sunday morning are endless. Even amongour own faith community, our Sunday morning attendance is about half of our membership.We’d like t

Kerri Parker's sermon from March 6th 2011http://www.archive.org/download/McfarlandUnitedChurchOfChristSermonMarch062011/20110306_sermon.mp3

http://www.archive.org/download/MuccSermonMay29th2011/MUCC_Sermon_20110529.mp3

http://www.archive.org/download/MuccSermonNovember6th2011/MUCC_Sermon_20111106.mp3

“Everyday gods”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC­­­17th Sunday after Pentecost (October 9, 2011)Exodus 20 and 32Imagine a woman, recently retired, at home full-time, when she had been used to being at theoffice more than full-time. Or, if you prefer, a man, unemployed, who has applied for every jobhe might be remotely qualified for within a 100 mile radius, and even some he isn’t qualifiedfor. Or, perhaps, a teen, too young for a paying job, home alone for a chunk of the day duringsummer vacation.Imagine them, sitting at the computer, having discovered some mildly entertaining socialgame called “FarmCityGardens”, or maybe “MafiaRestaurantVille” online. At first, it’s a nicediversion from the hours and hours that need to be filled. A click, and a virtual field has beenplanted. Click. Harvested. Click. In the storehouses. Click. A dish is on the stove. Click. It’splated. Click. A cute little virtual figure heads across the screen to serve it to the customers.And so on, and so forth.It takes a certain number of s

“Alarm Clock”Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCCEpiphany+4B (January 29, 2012)Mark 1:14-20 (text for Epiphany+3B)I use my telephone for all sorts of things these days. Talking, playing games, surfing theinternet in the doctor’s waiting room, checking my email when I’m away from my computer,finding my way from here to there, and waking me up in the morning. Recently, I upgradedthe system that makes this complicated little tool run, and it now has the capability of makingnew sounds. It can quack like a duck, chime like a bell tower, give me a piano riff, beep like thesonar on a submarine, - it can even wake me up to little snippets of songs. However, on thislist, my old wake-up sound was nowhere to be found.I set out to find an appropriate replacement. My specifications were a little bit picky, I have toadmit. There’s a relatively narrow sweet spot. Loud enough to cut through my dreaming andtell my consciousness that morning has broken. Gentle enough that it doesn’t set my heart a-pounding when it goes off, and st

http://www.archive.org/download/MuccSermonJune5th2011/MUCC_Sermon_20110605.mp3

http://archive.org/download/MuccSermonApril15th2012/MUCC_Sermon_20120415.mp3

“Holy Conversations”_                  _____              Second Sunday After Easter (May 8, 2011)Rev. Kerri Parker, McFarland UCC                                 Luke 24:13-35Back when I worked for a social services agency, we used to run into a pretty big problem on Friday afternoons.  You see, we had an immigrant assistance program, but it was only staffed four days a week.  That was all we could manage with the funding we had, to have people providing services Monday through Thursday.  If someone walked through the doors on a Friday, there was no one who could assist.  It was so disappointing to say, “I’m sorry, there’s no one here right now who can help you with that.  Can you come back on Monday?”  To make it even more challenging, the folks we worked with had very limited English language skills.    They were primarily Spanish speakers, who came to us because they wanted to learn English, to become fluent in local culture and part of the community.   Most of them approached us because they neede

http://archive.org/download/MuccSermonMarch25th2012/MUCC_Sermon_20120325.mp3

http://www.archive.org/download/MuccSermon20120115/MUCC_Sermon_20120115.mp3