Sermons

(Manuscripts are written to be spoken and are not edited.)

“The soul is an endless world and at the center of the soul is seated Jesus.”

Julian of Norwich

August 29, '10    To See or Not to SeeDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

August 22, '10   Shrinking GodDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

August 8, '10    Clouds of WitnessDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

August 1, '10    Cords of Human KindnessDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

July 11, '10    Who are You?Download PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

July 4, '10  Swinging FreeDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

JUne 27, '10     Peace by PieceDownload PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

June 20, '10     Here I am! Hend me! Download PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

June 13, '10    If I'd Known You Were Coming, I Would Have Baked a Cake

Download PDF File

(Interim minister Rev. Susan Cooke-Kittredge)

May 23, '10      MetamorphosisDownload PDF File

Can the oil spill in the Gulf be a wake up call for humanity?  The apostle Paul speaks of creation "groaning inwardly" and awaiting the redemption of the children of God.  If we don't collectively hear the groan of creation through this oil spill then we aren't listening...

May 9, '10        Falling in LoveDownload PDF File

What power was strong enough to inspire Paul not only to become a Christ follower and give up his violent ways, but to be willing to suffer and ultimately sacrifice his life for such a following?!

April 25, '10        Why WorshipDownload PDF File

Why should we worship anyway?  Answered with 4 jokes and 4 reasons.

April 11, '10    A Case for ConfessionDownload PDF File

There was one primary qualification that all the disciples held in common and that made them eligible to spread the gospel after Jesus' return from the dead.  It's the necessary qualification for receiving forgiveness as well...

April 4, '10     Sunrise Reflection Download PDF File

Through one man's suffering and his willingness to transform instead of transmit the pain, Love enters the world in a big way...

march 21, '10   The Way Out of No WayDownload PDF File

Mary's anointing of Jesus to prepare him for death was her way of accepting what no one else around him wanted to accept - that his chosen way was apparently to run full steam towards a dead-end...

march 14, '10       Home is Where the Heart IsDownload PDF File

The story of the Prodigal Son is a story about coming home and the equally prodigal father sacrificed his own honor to keep those home fires burning for his prodigal son.

march 7, '10           Eye of the HeartDownload PDF File

Jesus' response to the people in today's scripture seems to push us beyond our dichotomous thinking to a deeper place of the soul...

February 14, '10    On Being VesselsDownload PDF File

We can be vessels of the Holy Spirit or of lesser spirits. Lent is a time for evaluating what kind of spirit is flowing through our lives...

February 7, '10    Into the DeepDownload PDF File

Jesus tells Peter to risk a return to the deep and he catches Peter in the net of his kingdom work...

january 31, '10   Grace and MindfulnessDownload PDF File

How the latest blockbuster movie "A Single Man" beautifully portrays the work of God's grace in our lives...

january 24, '10   Jesus' Mission Statement Download PDF File

It's interesting to consider not only how Jesus uses Isaiah's statement to express his own mission but also what he eliminates from Isaiah's statement - namely, reference to God's vengeance.  

December 13, '09   Slow Work of GodDownload PDF File

How do we trust that God is at work in our lives when it's so hard to recognize at times and when our timing is so often different from God's timing?  The story of the annunciation is Mary's moment of trusting the slow work of God...

December 6, '09  Who Can Stand God's Comingdownload PDF File

The Prophets and John speak of God coming in wrath and vengeance. They were right in principle about why God's coming was necessary, but wrong in form...

November 29, '09  The First Gift of AdventDownload PDF File

The First Gift of Advent - A Candle of Hope      by Ms. Paula Guarnaccia

November 22, '09   Opting for Something LargerDownload PDF File

On Christ the King Sunday we consider the scene of Pilate - King of Judea - standing before Jesus - the King of the Soul.  What is it that makes Jesus so unconcerned about saving his own skin?

November 8, '09    Where Our Problem LiesDownload PDF File

Some suggest that the source of violence and conflict in the world is religion and our commitment therein.  I disagree.  In fact, I believe the Christian religion in particular is a bulwark against violence and conflict run amuck in the world....

November 1, '09   All Saints and SoulsDownload PDF File

What does a Baptist born and bred UCC minister know about the high church feasts of All-Saints Day and All-Souls Day?

October 25, '09    Dominating Nature Download PDF File

Taking a humble stab at some ecological theology appropriate for the occasion of the world-wide 350.org action day...

October 18, '09  Matters of the SoulDownload PDF File

Jesus, in the Gospels, is always reframing questions and situations so that the people around him are pushed into a deeper consciousness, drawing them into their souls...

October 11, '09   Selling OutDownload PDF File

Who in their right mind would sell all they have and give the money to the poor...

September 27, '09   Trust in the LordDownload PDF File

What does it mean to trust in the Lord with all one's heart?

August 16, '09   The Peace Angel of the ChurchDownload PDF File

The Book of Revelation speaks of the early church congregations as each having their own angel, or one might say, their own spirit or personality. The research done for this year's Old Home Sunday in the church seems to reveal that our particular congregation has something of a Peace Angel in its soul.

June 21, '09  On Mount CarmelDownload PDF File

It's the 150th anniversary of our sister church here in Charlotte - Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church.  An appropriate time to ponder why Mt. Carmel is renowned in the Abrahamic traditions' scriptures.

May 31, '09    Beginning to LIveDownload PDF File

God wants our bliss. Should we not all be asking "where do I belong, what is my joy, how do I live passionately"? These are Godly questions that have Godly answers. Whether we are willing to live out the answers is another question....

May 24, '09     Literally AscendingDownload PDF File

The Ascension is a fanciful story about Jesus being carried away on a cloud. Some say the resurrection is merely fancy as well. I can accept the ascension being metaphorical but I take the resurrection and Jesus' appearances literally. Why is the distinction important?

MAY 17, '09   The SecretDownload PDF File

What is the difference between the secret that is in the book "The Secret" and the secret that is at the heart of the Christian faith?

May 10, '09    Living Abundantly Download PDF File

What does it mean to live out of God's abundance instead of living out of a perception of scarcity...

MAY 3, '09     Sprititual and FinancialDownload PDF File

This Sunday is the kick-off to our capital campaign to raise funds for the care and repair of our church. The process that we are embarking on is pressing us to hold the spiritual together with the financial. Maybe our country's current economic crisis is a result of the separation of the spiritual from the financial...

April 12, '09    Easter AwakeningDownload PDF File

Before Jesus was resurrected he had to die many deaths. What deaths do we need to go through in order for us to become awakened, in order for the Christ within to finally be resurrected?

MARCH 29, '09  Allowing the Scripture to WorkDownload PDF File

What happens when we take on the spiritual practice of allowing the scripture to work on us? The scripture for the 5th Sunday of Lent has something to say about our need to die and something else to say about Vermont's legislative struggle with same sex marriage if we listen closely....

March 22, '09    The Arrival of SpringDownload PDF File

Mud Season and Spring in Vermont is a time of warming skies and thawing earth. How are these seasons reflected in our spiritual lives. Ironically, as this sermon was preached on March 22nd at about 10:30am it began snowing like mad....

MARCH 1, '09    Determined by WhomDownload PDF File

Jesus is tempted in the wilderness to go for something less than what God was calling him to do. How often are we responsive to the truth within us and how often are we swayed and tempted away from that truth by the voices of others...

february 22, '09     Building Faith not Buildings Download PDF File

Our faith tradition teaches that it's not a particular place, a particular building or land that is sacred but it is a sacred way of living on whatever land and within whatever building we may fund ourselves....

february 8, '09      Healing PrayerDownload PDF File

Jesus was maybe more than anything else a healer, at least that's how the Gospels tell it. Why has the hands-on healing ministry been so neglected in the liberal Protestant church? There are no answers here but a beginning to the conversation and an invitation to the practice...

February 1, '09      Making Love  Download PDF File

Eugene Peterson distinguishes between communicating and communing. For our outer lives to thrive we certainly need to communicate but for our heart, spirit, soul, we need to move beyond mere communication and into communion...

january 25, '09     Arguing with JesusDownload PDF File

Is Jesus the way, the truth and life and no one comes to Father but through him? What about Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists? One preacher’s struggle with exclusive Christian theology...

January 11, '09    At Jesus' Baptism Download PDF File

The inauguration or anointing of Jesus as "king" is one way of looking at what is happening at his baptism. But Jesus is a one of a kind king who uses the power invested in him in a totally different way than most humans use their earthly power.

 

December 14, '08    from Rev. Susan Cooke KittredgeDownload PDF File

“Send Me Away Empty”.   December 14, 2008, Rev. Susan Cooke Kittredge, The Old Meeting House.  This Advent sermon inspired one of Patti Casey’s songs on her September 2010 CD.