Luke 24: 1-12 Happy Easter everyone! This week Melissa Florer-Bixler preached from the Gospel of Luke. The women Disciples (the men having scattered) around Jesus, despite their deep grief and despair, stayed with Jesus through his arrest, death, and burial, and then returned only to find the tomb empty save for shining beings that declared […]
resurrection
Whom Are You Looking For? March 31, 2024
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, […]
Women of the Resurrection – Nov. 6, 2022
Melissa reflects on and gives voice to the hypothetical woman who was married to seven brothers from the story in Luke 20:27-38. The Sadducees pose this question about the resurrection, but all along what Jesus wanted to tell the Sadducees, wanted to tell us, is that all women, all people, need good news. We need […]
Come and have breakfast – May 1, 2022
Scripture: John 21:1-19 Jesus visits the disciples a third time after his resurrection, this time as some of them have been fishing. “Where is Melissa going with this sermon?” That’s what many were thinking as she started her sermon, telling us that our bodies are “an island of creatures.” The real body of Jesus joins […]
Pouring out Despair – March 20, 2022
Continuing the series during Lent, Melissa preached from Luke 13:1-9. Despair is that intractable boulder that won’t move. Despair is the feeling of weariness after prying and pushing and pulling with all your might. From the passage, Jesus doesn’t provide pat answers when folks come to him in despair. “No, I tell you, but unless […]
The Resurrection Reorders Life – April 21, 2019
Matthew 28:1-15 Melissa tells us there were two very different realities that Sunday morning, three days after Jesus had been crucified. The contrast between the Jewish women and the Roman soldiers at the grave couldn’t have been greater. The Easter story is a story of grace. It’s a reordering of life. We’re encouraged to let […]
Tabitha’s Story – April 29, 2018
This Sunday Rachel told the story of Tabitha, in Acts 9:36-43, but from the perspective of one of Tabitha’s widowed friends in Joppa. Tabitha shows how our whole life can be defined by little resurrections, little renewals of life, little affirmations that death, sin, division and brokenness do not have the last word. Her story serves […]
“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” – Feb. 18, 2018
John 11:1-44 – The Death of Lazarus Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, a time for prayer as we anticipate with sorrow Jesus’ death. This year Ash Wednesday was marked by the death of 17 students and teachers at the High School in Parkland, Fl. The Ash Wednesday cross contains ashes representing death. Melissa reminds […]