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Chutes and Ladders

  Friends, as I promised you last week if you joined us at Honeoye Falls, today you’re hearing more about Brother Jacob, and how his story starts to finally get better after years of him wrecking his life and alienating his family. That’s going to come from a bigger question I’m inviting you to: where do we find God? Where do I go, what do I do, who do I talk to, if I want to connect with God? It’s not an easy question for anyone to answer. A lot of folks who gather in buildings that look like this one find that question intimidating. We, the Frozen Chosen, have no answer for it. A good answer for this question would require vulnerability and the expressing of feelings that we don’t like letting out. “Finding God? Uh, can you check Google Maps?” For my own amusement, I did exactly that. I’m a literal gal. I’m cerebral. I was going to be a math teacher, remember? I’d like a computer to be able to solve my problems, or an equation, or some academic principle. Even when it’s a spiritu...
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Soup

  This morning’s Old Testament reading sits in solidarity with dysfunctional families all over the world. It’s your first piece of Good News today–no matter how nutty things get on a bad day in your house, your family will always be better off than the families we’re introduced to in Genesis.  That Old Testament passage, and all the stories that follow it about Jacob and Esau, poses this question for us: how far do we chase after what isn’t ours, and how much harm do we create in the process? What enemies do we make along the way, and how do we treat them? By contrast, in today’s Gospel message, Jesus shows us how easily we can find him, and how to reconcile with our enemies even when all hope seems lost. First, Jacob and Esau, the twins who put the “fun” in “dysfunction”. Isaac prayed that he’d be lucky enough to be a dad, and when Rebecca finally conceived the twins had a Battle Royale in her womb every night. This distressed Rebecca so much that she regretted being alive, b...
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Let's Go for a Walk

  Friends, today is a great big hello. Hello to the friends I’ve known for two years from Honeoye Falls, and hello to new friends from Ionia and East Bloomfield. Of course, we’re far from strangers here, even if I’m new to this pulpit. Our new friends from Ionia have met me at Holy Week services that I co-officiated with Pastor Robin. Some of our East Bloomfield friends met me back in May, when DS Richelle pulled some of us together, along with Pastor Katrina, to contemplate new ministries that our churches might do better together than apart. And, besides, we’ve always been neighbors. I’ve spent the last two years living in the parsonage in Honeoye Falls, sending my kids to the HFL schools, shopping at the marketplace, going to the fire department carnival, watching parades and festivals, and falling in love with this wedge where Monroe County meets Livingston County meets Ontario County. It’s my home, and it’s your home, too.  And today, here we are, together. Our DS, Richel...
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Can Christians Talk to a Medium?

  Friends, we’re now in week 3 of 4 of Stump the Preacher 2026, sermons requested by you and then researched and delivered by me! This topic is another one that I saved from last year because I got so many requests that I couldn’t quite squeeze them all in. This one came from our friend Terri: Can a Christian talk to a medium?  Good question! I addressed a similar question during Stump the Preacher 2018, back when I was serving at the Avon church, and a friend asked if the UMC has any official teachings or advice about Ouija boards, psychics, and crystal balls. I’m going to start this sermon the same way I did that one 8 years ago. First, but commending Terri for posing such a great question! Second, with an acknowledgement. I can’t say that I come to any of these Stump the Preacher sermons leaving my preconceived ideas at the door, and for a topic like this one, my long-held beliefs are very strong and present. I also don’t think those beliefs will be unique to me. You bring ...
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Until

  Friends, it’s Ascension Sunday! I know, I’ll try not to keep you too long, so you can get to your Ascension Sunday parties after this. Yeah, we have this very bad habit in Christianity of making a very big deal out of just two of our holidays–Christmas and Easter–and generally ignoring the rest of them, to the extent that some of our beloveds only come to church twice a year. By now, y’all have learned that Pastor Natalie doesn’t ignore our other holidays, the ones we hardly talk about are my favorites! And Easter is a whole season, not one day, and today is the conclusion of that Easter season. The season began with Jesus’ resurrection, and Mary Magdalene proclaiming the Good News of the Risen Christ, and it ends here, with Jesus summoning his eleven surviving disciples together one last time, to give them some parting wisdom before going on to heaven. Luke tells us that, in those final moments that Jesus was with his disciples in person, he finally gave them everything they’ve ...
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Alive

  Today is a joyous day of life, love, and hope. It’s desperately needed, as our world has never been more parched of life, love, and hope. And today, on Easter Sunday, when we’ve never been more dehydrated of what keeps us alive, Jesus invites us to drink out of the firehose. We need to never forget how revolutionary Easter is. We need to never allow ourselves to grow complacent, to go through the motions, to come here because mom told you to but passively hear the same story you’ve heard many times. As if resurrection is old news. It’s ancient news, from our beloved ancestors. From our sister, Mary Magdalene, lovingly preserved so we would never forget. But old? The resurrection never gets old. We need it now more than ever. Because we live in a society where we spend most of life digging ourselves a grave, fully expecting that someday we’ll either stumble in, or get pushed in by someone or something else. It’s downright countercultural to stand here and proclaim otherwise. ...
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