Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Hear the sermon for the Great Vigil of Easter 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Peter Siwek

This sermon is available as a video clip on youtube.com:

Hear the sermon for Good Friday 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Peter Siwek

This sermon is available as a video clip on youtube.com:

Hear the sermon for Maundy Thursday 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Kathy Meyer

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Hear the sermon for March 11, 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

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Preacher: Tim Van Alstyne

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Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Hear the sermon for Ash Wednesday, 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Todd Williams

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Hear the sermon for February 19 2012 by...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Hear the sermon for February 12 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: Dianna Polzak

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Hear the sermon for Febraury 5 2012 by clicking here

Preacher: John Medenwald

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Hear the sermon for January 22 2012 by...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Hear the sermon for January 15...

Preacher: Bob Taraski

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Preacher: Peter Siwek

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Hear the sermon for Christmas Day by...

Preacher: Tim Van Alstyne

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Hear the sermon for the Fourth Sunday of...

Preacher: Kathy Meyer

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Preacher: Peter Siwek

This sermon is available as a video clip on youtube.com:

Hear the sermon for the Second Sunday of Advent by clicking here

Preacher: Peter Siwek

It is our 110th anniversary. And it is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the Church’s calendar. Today, I wish to enter into this mystery of times’ passage with you – not only for the sake of...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

A few days ago, I stopped by the Red Apple restaurant up Milwaukee Avenue. It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet of Polish food, and it’s a special place to me. I first went there over twenty years ago, with my father,...

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

We hear this commandment in two of our readings today. In Leviticus, God gives Moses a blueprint for all of Israel on how they must treat others. In...

Preacher: Peter C. Siwek

As Sebastian, our oldest son, continues to read the Chicago-Tribune every morning, he has noticed many stories reveal that people hold differing, and often conflicting viewpoints. While some differences among...

Spreading the word, ministry, righteousness and faith are important to living a Christian life and they all appear in today's readings.

In 1 Kings we hear about Elijah, who is in despair because he believes he is the only one left who...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

This past week, my son Sebastian and I were having a little after-school father-son time. Lately, he's taken a great interest in reading the Chicago Tribune, which is delivered to our door every morning....

Preacher: Tim van Alstyne

Readings: Acts 2:42-47 / Psalm 23 / 1 Peter 2:19-25 / John 10:1-10

It's difficult to preach on texts like these without falling into the trap of cliche. When we consider this metaphor -- of...

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

Faith: Raise your hand if you have faith!

Sure, I raise my hand and say I have faith. Saying it is easy, but how easy is it to live your life faithfully? What do we actually have faith in? That...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

I moved from Jersey City, New Jersey to El Dorado, Kansas when I was six. My family and I were soon to discover that no one could pronounce our name, "Siwek". The variations on it were really tragic. You...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

If you have been following our Holy Week journey in the Advent Community, by now you know well the three questions that I have been pondering with you:

"What truly matters? What matters more? What...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

Starting with the my sermon for the fifth Sunday in Lent, and continuing with Palm Sunday's sermon, I have been focusing our journey through Holy Week by asking three connected questions: "What truly...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

You have often heard the advice, when you're in a circle of folks, to not talk about religion or politics. Both are volatile subjects. I'm afraid that today, Palm Sunday, we will have to do both....

Preacher: Peter Siwek

On Ash Wednesday, following the form of the Book of Common Prayer, we prayed the Litany of Penitence. In that litany, we named not only sin that was personal and intimate; we named sin that was shared and communal,...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

Whether you are watching a television series, reading a good book or following an unfolding news report, cliff-hangers move the story forward.

Now, we all know what a cliff-hanger is: a story builds in...

Preacher: Tim van Alstyne

I must confess that I approach today's readings with some fear and trembling. Today is one of the major feasts of the Church, the feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord.

It's pretty easy...

Preacher: Dianna Polzak

Jesus said, "I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear...Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into...

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

"And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)

"Blessed are...the poor in spirit...those who mourn...the...

Preacher: Peter C. Siwek

This year, churches across the world who use the revised common lectionary will be reading from the Gospel of Matthew. Our own Tim Van Alstyne started a formation series on Matthew just last Sunday. And it is on...

Preacher: Peter C. Siwek

This past Thursday, our son Sebastian participated in an orchestra recital, which gathered all the grade schools in our district. They were to play three pieces.

The first one was good. The second one...

Preacher: Peter Siwek

When you read movie reviews, have you noticed that sometimes the reviewer issues a "spoiler alert"? A warning that a plot twist or a surprise ending in the movie is about to be revealed? Now, I don't...

Preacher: Tim Van Alstyne

It’s one of the most famous scenes in the history of cinema.

A man stands solemnly at the front of the the nave as the priest blesses the baby, recites the ancient Latin words. A...

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

How much is enough?

That is a question that is probably on everyone’s mind these days. Depending on your situation the answer is different.

Take sports figures. Many hold out...

The Sunday Scriptures: 2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15 Psalm 32 Galatians 2:15-21 Luke 7:36-8:3

Preacher: Tim Van Alstyne

Dr. Elaine Botha was one of my professors at university. She grew up in a middle-class household, a...

The Sunday Scriptures: Acts 9:36-43 Psalm 23 Revelation 7:9-17 John 10:22-30

Preacher: Bob Taraski

When I was a young boy about eight years old, our neighbor Browny died unexpectedly. This was my first memorable brush...

Preacher: Alice Medenwald

"Seeing is believing." A phase we have all heard, and to some extent, live by. You normally don't buy something without seeing it or at least a picture of it and you normally won't buy it...

Preacher: The Reverend Peter C. Siwek

I have a springtime story for you. It’s not about Easter bunnies. It’s about chickens.

Many of you know that my partner and I have started raising backyard poultry in our...

Preacher: The Reverend Peter C. Siwek

Some years ago, a mentor of mine – who helped form me to be the pastor I am today – said that he believed there were only four basic human emotions: joy, fear, anger and sadness. He...

Preacher: Kathy Meyer

I want to tell you a story. It is a story of deceit, pain, anger, sorrow, broken promises and revenge. It is a story of a man, a Nazarean of all people, (that should have been my first hint this was not going to end...

Annual Meeting Sunday
Preacher: The Reverend Peter C. Siwek

Church, you deserve a celebration!

After a year of work and struggle, you deserve a celebration today. After a year of calling to God for healing and...

Preacher: The Reverend Peter C. Siwek

It is a fact that nothing is permanent in this life. So far as I can tell, that is more good than bad. Because only living things change. Dead things cannot.

Change is a scary word to...

Preacher: The Reverend Peter C. Siwek

Years ago, when I was a student at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, up in Evanston, Father Andrew Greeley came to deliver a lecture. Many of you know him – he’s a Chicago...