Sermons from First United Presbyterian Church

Photo by  Gábor Veres  on  Unsplash The First United Presbyterian Church “Harvest Hope” Rev. Amy Morgan July 19, 2020 Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43 24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.  26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well.  27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?'  28 He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?'  29 But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bi

The First United Presbyterian Church “Abundant Waste” Rev. Amy Morgan July 12, 2020 Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea.   2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach.   3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow.   4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.   5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil.   6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away.   7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.   8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.   9 Let anyone with ears listen!" 18 "Hear then the parable of the sower.  

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The First United Presbyterian Church “The Cycle of Welcome” Rev. Amy Morgan June 28, 2020 Matthew 10:40-42 40 "Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.   41 Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet's reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous;   42 and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple-- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward." I wonder if any of the disciples were still listening. Jesus has been going on and on about the dangers and downsides of proclaiming the reign of God. As he prepares his disciples for their first mission, he tells them they can expect rejection and persecution, division and violence. I imagine some of them, at least, were inching toward the door by t