Sermons from 2023
Resolutions: What Matters Most?
We are grateful to Rev. Christine E. Reimers, an Interfaith Hospice Chaplain for Capital Caring Health, for serving as our guest preacher on December 31, 2023. Luke 18: 9-14 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that…
We Are Those Who Dream
Luke 2:1-14 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 All went to their own towns to be registered. 4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged…
The World Turned Upside Down
Luke 1:46-55 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,48 for he has looked with favor on the lowly state of his servant. Surely from now on all generations will call me blessed,49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name;50 indeed, his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.51 He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.52 He has brought down…
Have Yourself a Merry Little Apocalypse
Our theme for Advent is Those Who Dream, inspired by the the opening line of Psalm 126, “When the Lord restored the Fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.” Mark 13:24-37 24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and…
What’s in your hymnal?
Psalm 100 1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.2 Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Let us pray: O Lord uphold me, that I might uplift thee. Amen. When I read today’s Psalm, I instantly thought of…
God’s Justice and Compassion
We are grateful to Rev. Jimmie Hawkins for serving as our guest preacher on November 19, 2023. Rev. Hawkins is the director of the Office of Public Witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the public policy advocacy and information office of our denomination located in Washington, DC. He is also the author of Unbroken and Unbowed: A History of Black Protest in America. Luke 6:27-36 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who…
Worship Festival
During Worship Festival, a much-loved tradition at BPC, the proclamation of God’s Word is through music offered by our BPC choirs and musicians. This year, Worship Festival was held on Sunday, November 12, 2023, at both the 9:00am and 11:15am services. The following choirs participated: Rainbow Promise and Rainbow Connection Children’s Choirs (at the 11:15am service only), the Chancel Choir, Daybreak Women’s Choir, and IMPACT Youth Choir.
How We Are Replenished
Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he led them by…
The Promised Land
Our October 2023 sermon series is called The Path of Freedom. Deuteronomy 34:1-12 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho, and the LORD showed him the whole land: Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Western Sea, the Negeb, and the Plain — that is, the valley of Jericho, the city of…
The Rear View Mirror
Our October 2023 sermon series is called The Path of Freedom. Exodus 33:12-23 12Moses said to the LORD, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ 13Now if I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favor…
A Changed Mind
“A Changed Mind” is the second sermon in our October sermon series, The Path of Freedom. Exodus 32:1-14 When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off…
Nothing Better
“Nothing Better” is the first sermon in our October sermon series, The Path of Freedom. Philippians 3:4b-14 If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have…