July 2 (Communion Sunday)
Scripture Readings: Lamentations 3:22-26; Mark 5:21-43, NRSVUE
Sermon title: Jesus Sets the Captives Free
Topic: Jesus’ redeeming power brings new life that reflects God’s faithfulness and love.
Baptist heritage historical moment: Baptists advocate for religious freedom in America. “Once the American Revolution began, Baptists and others began advocating that Virginia drop its religious establishment or state-supported Anglican denomination. With help from Madison, the Virginia Declaration of Rights in 1776 affirmed that all citizens would enjoy ‘free exercise of religion,’ a foundational concept that would reappear 15 years later in the First Amendment to the Constitution.”(Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University)
July 9
Scripture Readings: Ezekiel 2:1-5; Mark 6:1-13, NRSVUE
Sermon title: “Blinded by the Familiar”
(Sermon title and ideas are adapted from Paul S. Lundborg, The Minister’s Manual, 1999-2000)
Topic: “Familiarity limits our vision and capacity for hearing” and discerning God’s will and purpose.
Baptist heritage story: Anniversary of the arrival of Adoniram and Ann Hasseltine Judson in Burma. “The future is as bright as the promises of God.” (a quotation from Rev. Adoniram Judson)
July 16
Scripture Readings: Jeremiah 23:1-6; John 10:1-10, NRSVUE
Sermon Title: “Jesus: The Shepherd and the Gate”
Topic: “Shepherd” and “Gate” are symbolic words used by Jesus to refer to himself and the abundant life and freedom to live and flourish that he offered to all who believe in and follow him as committed disciples.
Baptist heritage story: The late Rev. David Knipel, former interim pastor and Central Baptist Church of Woodbury member, searched for a denominational home before responding to God’s call to pastoral ministry.
It was as an M.Div. student at Eastern Baptist Seminary in 1995 he discerned that the American Baptist Churches USA family is where he belonged. This Sunday’s sermon is one of the sermons that Rev. Knipel preached before he retired as interim minister at Calvary Baptist Church, Norristown, Pennsylvania, in 2020. Before his death on July 18, 2022, he had served God with his ABCUSA family for 27 years.
July 23
Scripture Readings: Amos 7:12-15; Mark 6:14-16, NRSVUE
Sermon title: “Advance Party”
Topic: “The prophets of old, from Elijah to Amos to John, prepare us to meet Jesus.”
Baptist heritage stories: Baptist heroes and sheroes: Who introduced you to your Baptist Family? (“Open mic” for the congregation to share, but with prior preparation: the announcement will be made by July 2, that either by email or oral testimony, I will be asking members of the congregation to share their Baptist hero/shero story, including my own.)
July 30
Scripture Readings: 2 Kings 4:42-44; John 6:1-15
Sermon Title: “Saying Grace, Living Grace”
Topic: “Jesus took what was not enough, thanked God,” and it was more than enough.
Baptist History moment: John D. Rockefeller was an American industrialist, philanthropist, and devout Baptist. His benevolent grant to the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society for the purpose of establishing schools that would train ministers and other Christian workers and for boys in the Philippines resulted to the founding of Central Philippine University.
Rockefeller’s charitable giving began with his first job as a clerk at age 16, when he gave six percent of his earnings to charity, as recorded in his personal ledger. By the time he was twenty, his charity had exceeded ten percent of his income. Much of his giving was church-related. His church was later affiliated with the Northern Baptist Convention, which formed from American Baptists in the North with ties to their historic missions to establish schools and colleges for freedmen in the South after the American Civil War. Rockefeller attended Baptist churches every Sunday; when traveling, he would often attend services at African-American Baptist congregations, leaving a substantial donation. (source: Wikipedia)
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