As a Christian community, called to peacemaking and reconciliation, we affirm that people of any race, ethnic identity, gender, who are gay or straight, of any ability, age, or economic status, are welcome to full participation in our congregation.
Scripture: Isaiah 1:1-3, 11-20 Our world is not well. Our politics are not well. Our land and our oceans and our air is not well. We may be anxious. About the future, about elections, about what comes next for you and your family. So this series based on Isaiah will spend time with people who […]
In this last of Melissa’s three-part series on Jesus’ teaching on bread, the scripture was from John 6:56-59. As we eat this bread, this Jesus, we see God’s life growing and healing us. We become a people; a people that believe that we love our neighbors as ourselves. We become a people who refuse to […]
Melissa continues her three-part series on Jesus’ discourse about bread. The bread of life, as Jesus talks about it in John 6:51-58, isn’t a pill you swallow or compass giving directions. It’s a feast that you get into. It’s messy and visceral and fleshy. Jesus wants to get into our lives and become a part of […]
Scripture: Exodus 16:4-8, 13-21 and John 6:35, 41-51 We, along with all the creatures of the world, are invited to be the fullness of our created being. The passages from Exodus and John tell a story of trust, a dependence on God. Jesus also reminds people about all of the non-human creatures who depend on […]
2 Samuel 11: 1-5 Melissa Florer-Bixler’s invites us to consider King David’s abuse of power over Bathsheba, which mirrors abuses of positions of authority we now see in churches, businesses, and other institutions, especially since the beginning of the #MeToo era. The triumphant king in last week’s sermon that danced with joy before God and […]
Psalm 23, Jeremiah 23: 1-6 What does it mean to wrestle with our faith when the word calls us not be afraid or reassures us of God’s imminent just resolution to injustice? In their first sermon at RMC, intern Katie Magnum explores the connections between Psalm 23 and Jeremiah 23, which are vastly different in […]
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 What does David dancing with abandon, Jesus’ life and suffering, a famous New York City gay nightclub, the subversion of toxic masculinity in modern Christianity, and the role that joy plays in the spiritual life of the church and the knowledge of God’s character all have in common? Melissa Florer-Bixler ties […]
Susan and Hans provided a sermon dialogue based on the passage from Mark 5:21-43 of the woman with the hemorrhage and Jairus, a chief rabbi in the synagogue, whose daughter was deathly ill. They portrayed these two characters who met Jesus, allowing us to picture ourselves in the story. Through this imaginative retelling, we can […]
Susan Scott brought the message this morning from the book of Job. The story of Job is a literary construct. It’s about faithfulness in adversity and raises a lot of questions, with no easy answers. Suffering often prompts a crisis of faith. It’s okay to be angry at God; God can take it. Ultimately, God’s […]
Scripture: Mark 4:26-34 In this Sunday’s message, Melissa wove together the parables of the sower scattering seed and of the mustard seed growing with the tremendously destructive dispensationalist theology made popular by Hal Lindsey. Dispensationalism is a reading of scripture that is the basis of Christian Zionism, a violent anti-Semitic, literalist misuse of scripture. It […]
Matthew 19:1-12 and John 1:14-16 Melissa wraps up the series about questions the congregation has asked this Sunday, focusing on the question of sex, and intertwines it with the need for grace. Just before his conversion to Christianity the saint and theologian of the church, Augustine of Hippo, is in a garden and he prays […]
Jeremiah 29: 1-9 Isaac Villegas guest preaches in our ongoing sermon series “I’m not so sure about that” on the topic of pacifism. Isaac explores the concept of peace through the lens of prisons. Using the above passage in Jeremiah, Isaac compares the exile of jews in Babylon to the exile that takes place within […]
Acts 2: 1-21This Pentecost Sunday Melissa Florer-Bixler preached on the connection between the enormous changes that have recently taken place in our church life and membership, and the changes that took place with the fledgling Church on the day of Pentecost. The crowd didn’t just hear a translation of God’s message, they heard it in […]
2 Timothy 3: 14-17 In the RMC sermon series “I’m Not So Sure About That,” which addresses questions offered from the congregation, Melissa Florer-Bixler helps us to understand why there are so many disturbing stories, deeply flawed servants of God, and appalling deeds that appear in the Bible. Melissa shares with us that as Christians, […]
Genesis 1: 26-31 Our recent societal and political experiences with the concept of gender are highly charged, to say the least, and often the insistence of a black and white interpretation of God’s word is used as a club to injure others who do not share our viewpoint. Sarah Neff, a student at Duke’s Divinity […]
Matthew 6:24-34 The third topic Melissa takes on in the series exploring questions, wonderings, and themes that come from our congregation, focuses on our relationship as Christians to other faith communities and religious groups. Serious sports fans may be the most ardent religious fanatics, forming around a common belief in something bigger than themselves, sharing […]
Luke 24:36-48 In this second in a series exploring questions, wonderings, and themes that come from our congregation, Juliet joins Melissa to bring today’s message. After Jesus’ resurrection, he keeps showing up. Jesus meets their doubt with what they need and gives it to them. Jesus helps us know that we all are special. What […]
Colossians 1:15-23 Melissa started a new sermon series this week, “I’m not sure about that,” exploring questions, wonderings, and themes that come from our congregation. The most frequent submission was around the subject of hell. We live our whole lives bearing consequences, around retribution and punishment. If you make a bad choice with money, no […]
John 20: 1-18 Happy Easter to everyone! In this sermon Melissa Florer-Bixler preaches on the resurrection and the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene at his tomb. Jesus asks Mary, “whom are you looking for?” This is a loaded question, however, as Melissa shows us. The question asks us to look into our own selves, […]
Mark 11: 1-11 Note: The English voice you hear in this podcast is that of the translator. You can hear Miguel in the background, preaching in Spanish In this sermon, RMC’s Miguel Cruz preaches on the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem as related in the Gospel of Mark. While we often focus on the […]
John 12: 20-33 Note: At 2:19, ten seconds of audio was lost due to a technical problem during the live recording. Melissa Florer-Bixler preaches on a time in Jesus’ life where there is no time left for ministry, but only to speak to those present of his imminent demise and fulfillment of God’s plan. The […]
Numbers 21: 4-9 John 3: 14-21 Our perspective on the trials and tribulations of life can have a profound effect and how we formulate our understanding of God’s character and our own place and purpose in God’s creation. Melissa Florer-Bixler preaches on the long and arduous Exodus of the Jewish people from Egypt and how […]
John2: 13-22 Melissa Florer-Bixler preached on the cleansing of the Temple by Jesus. From this gospel we learn that the existence of an economy for selling sacrificial animals and exchanging currency was not what angered Jesus, being necessary for travelers to participate in rituals, but rather the proximity of these activities, within the holy space […]
On this second Sunday in Lent, Melissa preached from Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 and Romans 4:13-25, focusing on the story of Abram. Way before Moses gives those laws on the tablets, Abram is righteous before there’s a temple to sacrifice things in. Even before circumcision. And that’s really important, especially for us, because most of us […]
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Raleigh, NC 27603
Phone: 919-831-2969
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