Delivered on Sunday, January 6th, 2019 By David Oliver-Holder I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Happy New Year! Although Christians have already begun our new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent, for many folks the first of January marks an important turning point. Some of us watched the ball drop in New…
Delivered on Sunday, December 23rd, 2018 By David Oliver-Holder From time to time, I will hear a song somewhere, that will stick in my head and will not go away. You know how it is. Well, it happened to me this week. The song was “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” Since it has been cycling through my mind this week, I’ve…
Delivered on Sunday, December 16th, 2018 by David Oliver-Holder Rejoicing. That’s our task for today on this third Sunday of Advent. The Christians of ancient Rome called it Gaudete. Rejoice Sunday, based on this passage we have heard from Paul’s letter to the Philippians. And what a needed word for us in these days. We want to rejoice. We want the joy…
Delivered on Sunday, December 9th, 2018 At First Presbyterian Church, Urbana By David Oliver-Holder In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.” We know, as his followers, that searching is a fundamental aspect of faith. Saint Augustine knew this, and sought…
Delivered at the First Presbyterian Church, Urbana On Sunday, December 2nd, 2018 (Advent C1) By David Oliver-Holder There are few things that move our hearts and minds more than a good story. As good parents through the ages have done, very early in the lives of our children, we begin to tell them stories, to read stories to them. In our house,…