Comfort and Joy
Link to Service By: Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft Readings: Isaiah 51:1-3 51, 2 Corinthians 1; 3-4, Christmas Carol – God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen Like so many people here in this church, and really, I’m sure, all over, Covid disrupted my plans for Christmas. On Christmas morning I found myself alone listening to Christmas music. […]
God Will Transform Your Desert into a Garden
Link to Bulletin Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft December 11, 2022 Readings: Isaiah 35: 1-10, Luke 1: 46b-55 In preparing a sermon, I read the scripture passages several times and ask God, “what do you want to teach me through this? I also find it helpful to consider the context in which that segment of […]
Blessed Are Those Who Mourn
Link to Service Bulletin Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft October 9, 2022 Readings: Psalm 130, Psalm 13, Matthew 11:28-30 “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord.” Haven’t we felt like that from time to time in the last few years? Discouraged, dejected, demoralized? Despite these commonly shared emotions, our culture places a high […]
Dare to Rejoice in the Lord
Link to Zoom Service Sermon – December 12, 2021 Readings: Isaiah 12:2-6, Luke 3:7-18 Dare to Rejoice in the Lord Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft One of the nice things about being an independent, non-denominational church is that we are not bound by the rubrics established by a particular church affiliation. We can determine […]
Amen. Let It Be!
July 21, 2019 — Rev. Dr. Nancy Parent Bancroft Readings: Excerpts from the Gospel of John, Chapters 14 and 15; Discouragement by Deborah Burke Discouragement can be defined as a loss of confidence or enthusiasm. It can feel like dispiritedness,downheartedness, dejection, depression, demoralization, disappointment, despondency, hopelessness, or a lack of enthusiasm. It can lead […]
Surprising Prophets
July 7, 2019 — Rev. Nancy Parent Bancroft Readings: 2 Kings 5:1-14 John 1:43-46 Luke 10:1-2 Jeremiah, Hosea, John the Baptist, Jesus, Martin Luther King, John F Kennedy, Samantha Smith, Denise Kenney, Greta Thunberg, Jen Comeau – What do these people have in common? They are prophets. What is a prophet? Although some prophets […]
Beauty – The Divine Embrace
January 13, 2019 — Rev. Nancy Parent Bancroft Readings: Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7. Luke 3:15-16, 21-22 Irish poet, author, priest, and philosopher John O’Donohue once wrote, “We live between the act of awakening and the act surrender. Each morning we awaken to the light and the invitation to a new day in the world of time; each […]
Dare to Hope–Dare to be Hope
August 26, 2018 — Rev. Nancy Parent Bancroft Readings: Psalm 137: 1-6; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; John 14:27 Clergy, like all other working groups, have their professional journals. And the big topic being discussed in them this year and often among clergy when they get together is how to preach given the present divisiveness and political climate. And […]
Part of Me is Dead But Can be Found
February 25, 2018 — Rev. Nancy Bancroft Rev. Paula sent me her sermon, and gave me permission to read it or do something of my own. I felt that I couldn’t do it justice and decided to share my own reflections about the readings. But I’ve borrowed the stories that she offered and would like […]
What Will You Bring to the Feast?
September 3, 2017 — Nancy Bancroft Scripture Reading: I Corinthians 12: 4-11 In the animated movie Ice Age, when saber-tooth tigers attack a tribe of nomads, a mother and her baby attempt to outrun the beasts but are cornered at a raging waterfall. The little boy is discovered by a wooly mammoth named Manfred, a […]