Genesis 45:1-8, 14-15
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
August 8, 2010 (VBS Sunday)
I’m the oldest of 4 kids: me, Emily, Mark, Anna. We’re packed in there…Anna is only 6 years younger than me.
A few months ago, Anna started a new job at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. The agency where she works has a weekly staff spotlight, [...]
Luke 10:38-42
Psalm 52:9
Erica Schemper
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
It is important that I begin this sermon with a confession.
I have not been practicing what I am about to preach…I’m home for one week after 3 weeks of traveling, and I leave at about 6:00am tomorrow on another youth trip. in a sermon about doing and being, about [...]
Mark 12:1-12
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
My bike repair shop has a bumper sticker up on the wall: “Illinois Earthquake Survivor.” By God’s grace, that earthquake on February 10 was a minor one. (I know I rolled over and went back to sleep right after concluding that perhaps a snowplow had hit out building.)
But I know, for [...]
Luke 4:1-13
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
(Originally Preached on Lent 1C, February 21, 2010)
Temptation is not really a dirty word anymore. Think about it: it’s a word used to brand and identify: chocolates; resorts; a dating service in the UK ; there’s even a men’s deodorant line that has a scent named: “dark temptation”
Think about it: in [...]
Matthew 2:1-12
Ephesians 3:1-12
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
Sunday Before Epiphany
It’s been over a week since you ripped open those treasure boxes under the tree. And for the most part, you know exactly what’s in them. And now you have a sense of how much you will actually use the gift. What each gift might mean, what [...]
Genesis 9:8-17; 1 Peter 3:13-4:2
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, Geneva, IL
March 1, 2009 (Lent 1B)
If there’s any Bible story that is truly a part of “youth cultureâ€, or at least the culture of the youngest of youth, it’s Noah and the Ark. If you do a search on Amazon for “Noah’s Ark toys†you get 303 [...]
2 Kings 5:1-14
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church, Geneva, IL
Service of Healing and Wholeness
Every once in a while, my two-year old comes up with little theological insights, new ways of explaining church-y things to herself, and one of my current favorites is the “church bathâ€. It’s what she calls the baptismal font. The place where she sees [...]
A little context: from August 2002-July 2003, I was the intern pastor at Hope Christian Reformed Church in Oak Forest, IL. Then, when I started working as the religion teacher at pastor at Providence-St. Mel Schools, Hope remained my home congregation and then was the congregation that ordained me in November of 2003. They invited [...]
Revelation 12
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
December 21, 2008, 8:30am
Pray for us, because at the next service, we’re handing the preaching of the word over to the children. They’re doing a Christmas pageant.
Christmas pageants are not safe. Let’s be honest: when Mary is 8 and Joseph is 5 and the innkeeper is 3, you just don’t know [...]
Matthew 5:5; Romans 12:1-3; Psalm 37
Fox Valley Presbyterian Church
Twice in my life, on a bus in a foreign country, I’ve had a moment where I understood how big Americans really are.
In Guatemala, I rode a chicken bus (called chicken buses because people transport everything, including their chickens). Latin America is where North American school buses [...]