On this first Sunday we streamed our service rather than meet in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Melissa preached from John 4:5-42. A small group met at Fletcher to lead worship. “These are unusual and difficult times. But these are opportunities for us to both be and to receive good news. To let our […]
Melissa Florer-Bixler
Bread as Life – Feb. 9, 2020
John 6:25-40, I Corinthians 11:23-26, 12:12, 24-27 Melissa continued the series on communion, focusing today on the role of bread. How bread comes to be is significant, from the grains to the yeast that acts as leavening. In many ways, we are bread. How do we break ourselves open to be made whole?How do we […]
Last Supper – Feb. 2, 2020
Matthew 26:17-30 On this first Sunday that we held worship at Fletcher Academy, Melissa recounts the story of the Last Supper, Jesus having Passover with his friends. The account in Matthew spends more time talking about the betrayal by Judas than it does about breaking of the bread and sharing the cup. When we come […]
Here in this Place – Jan. 26, 2020
Matthew 5:21-24 and 1 Corinthians 11:17-26 Melissa reflects on the place where we have worshiped since 1994 and how that has affected us as a community.
Remembrance of baptism – Jan. 12, 2020
Matthew 3:3-17 NOTE: There were electronic issues during the recording which caused interference in the audio. It gets progressively worse toward the end of the recording, but it’s a good sermon, so if you can persevere, it’s worth it! Baptism is a little death. At the same time, all of life is baptism. There is […]
Adoption – Dec. 22, 2019
Isaiah 7:10-16, Matthew 1:18-25 Even though Joseph is not Jesus’ biological father, Jesus becomes a part of Joseph’s story; the inheritor and adopted child of the whole line of God’s promises. Our story as Christians is also one of adoption. We were destined for adoption as God’s children through Jesus Christ.
Revolutionary Magnificat – Dec. 15, 2019
Isaiah 35:1-10 & Luke 1:46-55 When women in the Bible have something to say, it often comes out as a song. Mary’s song, recounted in Luke 1, is revolutionary. God is on the side of the dispossessed and Mary sings of the revolution taking place through God’s world-toppling love. Melissa’s message was preceded by a […]
Fulfilled – Filled Up – Dec. 8, 2019
Isaiah 11:1-10 & Matthew 3:1-12 On this second Sunday of Advent, Melissa told us, “this is a season to be shaken up and shaken out.” Christians have a profound failure to live out the Gospel, but we’re also attuned to our failure. We require outside intervention and Jesus comes through an intervention of love. It’s […]
Reconciled in God through Jesus – Nov. 17, 2019
Food is political. Eating is a kind of politics. Isaiah offers this vision of the the end of all things, centering around a meal. In this passage, all things, all people, are reconciled in God. Everything bruised and damaged is made whole, but also those who bruise and damage are made whole. We’re all there […]
Lamentations – Nov. 3, 2019
Lamentations 4:1-9 What did you bring today that you have not said aloud? What corner of sorrow have you left covered? We work without pause, return again to a race for efficiency, too busy to attend to the grief we bury in our chests. So pause here… Pause here among others who have come to […]
The Glory of the Ordinary – Oct. 27, 2019
Ecclesiastes 8:10-15 The book of Ecclesiastes is a strange book to have in our canon. It’s a pessimistic book that veers into sarcasm, and it has no issue telling you exactly how life is in the world. A book for the frustrated and the cynical. It’s comforting to know that the Bible has room for […]
Retelling the Story – Oct. 6, 2019
Deuteronomy 26:1-15 History isn’t recorded, it’s interpreted. Melissa begins her sermon this Sunday by telling about the Bible study she is co-leading on the grounds of the state capitol that compares the Confederate monuments with idolatry. Rather than statues, we need to tell stories to one another. Stories of how God’s love extends to all […]
In Covenant with Creation – Sept. 29, 2019
Leviticus 11:1-22 This Sunday Melissa wove together an explanation for the Levitical rules for what meat was clean and unclean with both the current climate change crisis and our focus with A Year at the Table. Human lust for domination over creation is the root cause of climate change. God loves the whole world and […]
Invited to the Table – Sept. 8, 2019
Genesis 18:1-15 Melissa began her sermon talking about her many visits to A Place at the Table. Unfortunately, the first two minutes were not recorded, so we pick up from her comparison of A Place at the Table with the story of the three strangers who visit Abraham and Sarah at the oaks at Mamre. […]
Made in God’s image or like God? – Sept. 1, 2019
God shows up at the Table – Aug. 25, 2019
Genesis 1 Melissa’s sermon was preceded by viewing a video featuring James Weldon Johnson reciting the poem The Creation. The poetry of Genesis is where we’re starting our “Year at the Table.” Our lives are dependent upon creation, just as they’re dependent upon a loving, creative God. Every time we eat, we are reminded that […]
Surprising Faith – Aug. 18, 2019
Hebrews 11:1-16 Melissa continued the series focused on Hebrews in this morning’s message. What is faith in the midst of political distress, in a government hellbent on terrorizing the vulnerable? It’s the failures of the people talked about in this Hebrews passage that animates our faith to continue on. They provide hope because of their […]
Babette’s Feast
by Melissa Florer-BixlerA blog entry in response to our “A Year at the Table” series. It seemed fitting to me that we began our year of exploration and reflection on Communion practice in grace. Babette’s Feast, the first in our film series featuring movies about food and faith, is a story about grace received in […]
Sacrifices & Finding Life – July 28, 2019
Hebrews 4:14 – 5:10 & Matthew 26:36-40 Melissa works at clearing up misconceptions we often have and reconciling some of our notions of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament and Jesus’ life and crucifixion. We were forgiven long before we knew we needed forgiving.
In Hope We are Saved – June 30, 2019
Romans 8:18-30 Hope seen through Arethra Franklin, the Holy Spirit, and our own congregation.
Finding God in Unexpected Places – June 16, 2019
Psalm 9, Isaiah 53:4-9 This Sunday the service used the music of Patty Griffin to tell stories of a God who is present in the messiness of life. What does the Gospel of Jesus Christ have to say to those with their backs against the wall? The scriptures tell us the answer: God is there […]
The Unknown God – May 26, 2019
Breaking down prison walls – May 19, 2019
Acts 16:16-40 RMC has been part of an interfaith group that spends time at the NC women’s prison, celebrating birthdays and sharing times of worship. Prisons are created to get people out of the way. They did in the day of Paul and Silas, and they do so today. As Willy Jennings has said, prisons […]
Decisionmaking in the Church – May 12, 2019
Acts 15:1-29 While the passage is specifically about whether male Gentiles who followed the Way of Jesus needed to be circumcised, Melissa explains this really speaks to the broader decision-making process within the early church. We think we have difficulty coming to a consensus as a church; this was a much more volatile issue! Note: […]