A WORD FROM THE WISE Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church December 28, 2014; 1st Sunday of Christmas, 2014, Year B Isaiah 61:10-62:3; Luke 2:22-40 “For my eyes have seen your salvation…a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” Luke 2:30,32 There’s always a bit of a letdown in […]

CHRISTMAS UNWRAPPED Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church Christmas Eve, 2014 “This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12 Here’s an experience any parent of a young child can tell you about. It’s Christmas morning (or maybe Christmas Eve): […]

THE WAR ON ADVENT 2nd Sunday of Advent, Year B; December 7, 2014 Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a “Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.” 2 […]

PLENTIFUL Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church November 23, 2014; Non-Lectionary Sermon Leviticus 19:1-10; Matthew 9:35-38 “Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’” Matthew 9:37 “O beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain.” For many of us, those lines sum up the promise of America. […]

THE ENEMY OF GENEROSITY Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church November 16, 2014; 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Exodus 35:20-29; Matthew 25:14-30 “…so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground.” Matthew 25:25a This past week, I got an invitation in the mail. It came from my Ph.D. […]

THE WISE CAN WAIT Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church November 9, 2014; 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Psalm 70; Matthew 25:1-13 “When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” Matthew 25:3-4 There are lots of things I love […]

FEAST OF THE FUTURE Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church November 2, 2014; 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A 1 Samuel 28:3-25; 1 Corinthians 11:23-34a “Then Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?’” 1 Samuel 28:15 Who doesn’t like a good ghost story? They’re a staple around Scout […]

LOVING THE NEW NORMAL Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church October 26, 2014, 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A (Non-lectionary sermon) Psalm 40:1-5, 16-17; 2 Corinthians 4:5-12 “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 […]

IN THE NOW Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church October 12, 2014; 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Exodus 32:1-14; Matthew 22:1-14 “Then [the king] said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’” […]

THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM Carl Wilton Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church October 5, 2014; 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A Exodus 20:1-20; Philippians 3:1-14 “[The people] said to Moses, ‘You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, or we will die.’” Exodus 20:19 My, but these are […]