Hear “Where Do We Live?”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, January 27, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 27:1-4 and Matthew 4:18-22
Hear “Wait. Listen. Get Up.”
Sermon by The Rev. Kathy Speas, February 3, 2008
Scripture readings: Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9
Read “Lent”
Spiritual Message by Darleen Pryds, Ph.D., February 10, 2008
Scripture readings: Jeol 12:12-13 and Matthew 4:1-11
Dr. Pryds is Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality and Medieval History Franciscan School of Theology (Graduate Theological Union).
Hear “Re-Thinking Repentance”
Sermon by The Rev. Kim Henrichs, February 17, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 1:14-19 and Luke 15:3-7
Hear “Holy Water”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, February 24, 2008
Scripture readings: Exodus 17:1-7 and John 4:13-14
Hear “Complete Love & Joy”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, March 3, 2008
Scripture readings: John 15:9-12 and 1 John 4:7-8; 11-12
Hear “Out Of Dry Bones”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, March 9, 2008
Scripture readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11:32-44
Hear “Entering the Gateless Gate”
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, March 16, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 90 and Matthew 6:25-27, 32-33
Hear “What Do We See?”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, April 6, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 116:1-9 and Luke 24:30-32
Hear “Entering by The Gate”
Sermon by The Rev. Andy Stinson, April 13, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 23 and John 10:1-10
Andy Stinson presently lives in Maine, and is the Chair of our denomination’s Council of Ministers. He has served two Swedenborgian churches, in Elmwood, Massachusetts, and in Washington D.C., and has also served our country as a Chaplain in the U.S. Army.
Hear “Hearts Untroubled”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, April 20, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 100 and John 14:1-3
Hear “Spirit Of Truth”
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, April 27, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 66:8-20 and John 14:15-21
Hear “Pause…”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, May 4, 2008
Scripture readings: Luke 24:44-53 and Acts 1:1-5
Hear “Holy Spirit”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, Pentecost, May 11, 2008
Scripture readings: Ezekiel 37:1-6, 14 and Acts 2:1-6
Hear “On Solid Ground”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, June 1, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 46 and Matthew 7:21-29
Hear “The Last Gift”
Sermon by The Rev. Greg Comella, June 8, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 17 and John 13:1-9
Hear “Choosing To Believe”
Spiritual Message by Dr. Nketchi Wan, June 15, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 145:8-19 and Matthew 11:28-30
Hear “A Great Adventure”
Spiritual Message by Dr. Inese Radzins, June 22, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 21:8-21 and Matthew 10:24-39
Hear “A Heavenly Journey”
Sermon by The Rev. Rachel Rivers, June 29, 2008
Scripture readings: Matthew 13:31-32
Hear “Simply Trust”
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, July 6, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 24:42-49 and Matthew 11:25-30
Hear “What Day Is It?”
or read it here
Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Jim Lawrence, D.Min., July 13, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 1:24-31 and John 3:1-8
Hear “Follow Me”
Sermon by The Rev. Kathy Speas, July 20, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 12:1-9 and Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26
Hear “Becoming Heaven”
Sermon by The Rev. Kim Hinrichs, July 27, 2008
Scripture readings: Matthew 13:1-9; 24-30; 31-32 and Matthew 13:33-35; 44-50
Hear “Blessed Monotony”
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, July 27, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 85:8-13 and Matthew 14: 22-33
Hear “Opening Our Roof”
Spriritual Message by Rodrigo Marcus, August 17, 2008
Scripture readings: Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Mark 2:1-12
Hear “Bad Science?”
Sermon by The Rev. Doug Moss, August 24, 2008
Rev. Moss is pastor of the Swedenborgian Church across the bay from our church, in El Cerrito.
Scripture readings: Psalm 8 and 2 Corinthians 5:16-20
Hear “Work In Progress”
Spiritual Message by Darleen Pryds, Ph.D., August 31, 2008
Darleen Pryds is a Professor of Christian Spirituality at the Franciscan School of Theology of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
Scripture readings: Ezekiel 34:11-16 and Luke 10:38-42
Hear “A Time to Every Purpose”
or read it here
Spiritual Message by Joy Barnitz, Ph.D., September 7, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 149 and Matthew 18:20
Dr. Barnitz, our council president, grew up in the General Church and has family in all three branches of the Swedenborgian church. Trained as a scientist, she now works to bring new medicines to the marketplace. Joy shares her life with her spouse, Douglas Stinson, and two cats.
Hear “From Here to There”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, September 14, 2008
Scripture readings: Exodus 14:19-31 and Matthew 18:21-35
Hear “The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, September 21, 2008
Scripture readings: Exodus 16:2-15 and Matthew 20:1-16
Hear “Swedenborg and the Great American Experiment”
or read it here.
Spriritual Message by Doug Stinson, September 28, 2008
Scripture readings: Matthew 7:7-8 and Matthew 22:35-50
Doug Stinson, Ph.D., was raised in New Hampshire and attended New College, the experimental liberal arts school in Sarasota, Florida. There he met his wife, Joy Barnitz, who introduced him to Swedenborg. He went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Since then he has performed and managed research and product development for Kodak, Seagate, Hewlett-Packard, and the obligatory Silicon Valley start-up that went belly-up during the dot com bust. He currently is responsible for developing surgical lasers at American Medical Systems. Doug is an avid photographer, newsletter editor, emergency communicator, and, while working on a community’s master plan, coined the phrase “environmental infrastructure”.
Hear “Finding Forgiveness”
Spriritual Message by Marcia Kimpton, October 5, 2008
or read it here.
Scripture readings: Exodus 19:10-20, 20:1-7 and Joshua 1:1-2,7
Marcia Kimpton has been studying at the House of Swedenborgian studies at PSR for seven years. She is in the process of writing a spiritual book that incorporates Swedenborgian concepts. She is a mother of a 16 year old daughter and she is producer in both television and film.
Hear “Worship in a Difficult Time”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, October 12, 2008
Scripture readings: Exodus 32:1-14 and Matthew 22:1-14
Hear “The Value Of Our Days”
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, October 19, 2008
Scripture readings: Genesis 32:22-31 and Luke 18:1-8
Hear “Standing on Tiptoe”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, October 26, 2008
Scripture readings: Deuteronomy 34:1-12 and Matthew 22:34-40,41-46
Hear “Humble Strength”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, November 2, 2008
Scripture readings: Joshua 3:7-17 and Matthew 23:1-12
Hear “Be Prepared”
Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Robin Crawford, LLD, November 9, 2008
Scripture readings: Psalm 103:6-18 and Matthew 25:1-13
Rev. Dr. Crawford is a Presbyterian minister who has pastored several churches, and served as interim Presbytery Executive of the San Francisco Presbytery. He has a law practice in wills and estate planning in Pacifica.
Hear “Take Risks”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, November 16, 2008
Scripture readings: Judges 4:1-7 and Matthew 25:14-30
Hear “Celebrating ‘Stir-Up’ Sunday”
Sermon by The Rev. Kathy Speas, November 23, 2008
Scripture readings: Ezekiel 34:11-17 and Matthew 25:31-46
Rev. Kathy Speas, M.Div., is a parishioner in our parish and was ordained a Swedenborgian minister in 2004. She was selected from among a large applicant pool to become the new chaplain of Hospice of Marin. She covers a caseload in Northern California counties, serving the terminally ill and their families in pastoral support. She believes that this is a profession tailor-made for Swedenborgians. She says, “It’s very comforting for people to find that they have been creating their heaven all along through what they love. And it takes a Swedenborgian minister to recognize the “remains” that are expressed in the faith memories of an Alzheimer’s patient who remembers nothing but the words to Silent Night, the Lord’s Prayer, and the 23rd Psalm.” Kathy has preached several times in our church, first as an intern, and now as an ordained minister. It is always a joy to hear her message.
Hear “Pay Attention”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, November 30, 2008
Scripture readings: Isaiah 64:1-9 and Mark 13:24-37
Hear “Prepare The Way”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, December 7, 2008
Scripture readings: Isaiah 40:1-11 and Mark 1:1-8
Hear “Grace Upon Grace: Pass It On”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, December 14, 2008
Scripture readings: Isaiah 61:1-11 and John 1:6-18
Hear “Rehearsing The Story”
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, December 21, 2008
Scripture readings: 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 and Luke 1:26-38
Hear the 5:00 PM Christmas Eve Story
Childrens’ Story by The Rev. Kim Hinrichs, December 24, 2008
Hear the 7:30 PM Christmas Eve Sermon
Sermon by The Rev. Jeff Cheifetz, December 24, 2008 or read it here
Scripture reading: Matthew 2:1-12
Hear the 10:00 PM Christmas Eve Sermon
Sermon by The Rev. Lana Sandahl, December 24, 2008
Hear “Free Will: Reality or Fantasy”
Sermon by The Rev. Dr. Everett Alexander, December 28, 2008
Scripture reading: Romans 8:2
Rev. Dr. Everett C. Alexander has been an ordained minister since 1993. He received his PhD in Metaphysics/Spiritual Counseling in 2001 from Santa Monica College. He worked at Unity Church in Santa Monica for three years, then began working primarily with people in their last stages of life. He has been an on-call Minister for one of the Presbyterian Churches in Santa Monica. He sends out an e-mail newsletter, monthly, entitled “Conversations about God”.