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Sermons by Rev. Patrice Ficken 2006 ________________________________ "CALLED FORTH" - January 8, 2006; Mark 1:4-11, "I hope you received my email message yesterday in time to pull off from your refrigerator some of the photographs you received from family members and friends over Christmas and bring them to share at coffee hour..." more... ________________________________ "BEING ALIVE" - January 26, 2006; 1 Corinthians 12:4-13, Mark 1:14-20, "Have you ever wondered – why did Jesus call fishermen to be his disciples? What was it about Simon and his brother Andrew; James and his brother, John – that caught Jesus’ attention?" more... ________________________________ "DISCERNING VOICES" - January 29, 2006; Deuteronomy 18:15-20, Mark 1:21-28, "A story is told of a farmer and his son. One day the farmer said to his son, "It is now time to go to the village. This donkey has reached its ideal weight and will fetch a good price..." more... ________________________________ "IN THE KNOW" - February 12, 2006; Isaiah 40:21-31,Mark 1:29-39, ""We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify: God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death..." more... ________________________________ "CHOICES" - February 12, 2006; Psalm 30,Mark 1:40-45, "Last Saturday, an 18 year old man from New Bedford, Massachusetts stepped into a gay bar with an axe in his hand with the intention to scare, to maim, to destroy anyone who happened to be in his path. After seriously injuring several people, he fled..." more... ________________________________ "PICKING UP THE MANTLE" - February 26, 2006; 2 Kings 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-9, "On Friday night, Chet Curtis, of New England Cable News, interviewed James Levine, Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Chet asked a range of questions about goals for the orchestra and especially about the plans for next season’s concerts..." more... ________________________________ "THE UNSEEN GOD" - March 12, 2006; Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16,Mark 8: 31-38, "This week, we join the Gospel of Mark’s narrative – in the middle of an interplay between the disciples and Jesus. Our lectionary has been bouncing around it for weeks. It’s as if the disciples hold one picture of Jesus and Jesus holds another..." more... ________________________________ "SHADOWS AND SERPENTS" - March 26, 2006; Numbers 21:4-9, John 3:14-21, "It has been nearly seven months since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, taking with it lives, communities, livelihoods, homes..." more... ________________________________ "JESUS BY HEART" - April 2, 2006; Jeremiah 31:31-34, John 12:27-36, " I don’t know about you, but the Gospel of John often leaves me scratching my head. Its mystical language is so hard to penetrate..." more... ________________________________ "COUNTERPOINT" - April 9, 2006, Mark 11:1-11, "Outside Jerusalem, in the year 30, Jesus called to his side two of his disciples. He gave them detailed instructions concerning a colt – and asked them to bring it to him..." more... ________________________________ "AND YET..." - April 16, 2006; Mark 16:1-8, "The three women who came to the grave to anoint Jesus’ body, were the only three disciples (at least according to Mark’s Gospel) who dared witness the cruelty and horror of Jesus’ crucifixion. The male disciples had already fled for fear of their lives..." more... ________________________________ "REMEMBER" - April 30, 2006; Job 38:1-18, 1 John 3:18-24, "Driving home after the Tenebrae Service during Holy Week, I was guided by a gorgeous full moon that had risen clear and bright in the Eastern sky. As I pulled off 93, I rolled down the windows and could hear the frogs singing. The air was soft and warm. It was a magical night..." more... ________________________________ "OUR CONSTANT COMPANION" - May 6, 2007; Psalm 23, Acts 4:5-12, "A couple of weeks ago, I attended William Sloane Coffin’s funeral in New York City. You’re thinking – did we give her time off for that? Actually, no – I didn’t travel there. I listened to the service by a live webcast over the internet..." more... ________________________________ "REMEMBER YOUR BAPTISM" - May 21, 2006; Galatians 3:23-29, "We celebrated the beautiful sacrament of baptism this morning. The use of water in baptism symbolizes purity, new life in Christ..." more... ________________________________ "SING A NEW SONG" - May 28, 2006; Psalm 98, "What a special day this is, to honor our beloved and dear friend, Martha by dedicating the piano – that she so graciously loaned to us – and now her daughter, Beverly has bequeathed in her mother’s honor." more... ________________________________ "POSSIBILITY" - June 18, 2006; Mark 4:26-34, "As you look at the mustard seed – what do you see? As Jesus looked at the mustard seed, he saw the fully, grown mustard bush – large enough to provide shelter and shade for birds and small creatures..." more... ________________________________ "BACK OF THE BOAT" - June 25, 2006; Mark 4:35-41, "As we begin our reflection on this week’s scripture passage, I’d us each to take a minute and to think about the last week. What was it like for you? Was it a busy week? What is the primary mental image that comes to mind?.." more... ________________________________
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________________________________ "REACHING TOWARD WHOLENESS - July 2, 2006; Mark 5:25-34, "The woman approached Jesus. She was alone, broke, perhaps weak or in pain from suffering with her ailment for 12 long years. And then, we’re told in our scripture passage this morning, she reached toward Jesus’ cloak and "immediately her hemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease..." more... ________________________________ "SHINE" - July 9, 2006; Mark 6:1-13, "I confess this morning that I love this scripture passage. I find it a tremendously freeing passage, if for only one reason – even Jesus could not perform miracles among his own family and neighbors!.." more... ________________________________ "BACK IN THE BOAT - PART II" - July 23, 2006; Mark 6:30-44, "At the end of last month, I preached a sermon called, "Back of the Boat" based on the scripture passage when Jesus goes to the back of the boat to sleep, to pray – to recharge after a frenetic time of preaching, healing, and teaching. I shared highlights of Kirk Jones’ book "Rest in the Storm..." more... ________________________________ "WONDER BREAD" - August 6, 2006; John 6:24-35, "Today’s scripture passage joins the crowd of 5000 people who had just experienced the miracle of Jesus multiplying the loaves of bread and fishes so that all were satisfied. These people who had been fed by Jesus – fed by this miracle bread, this wonder bread, this living bread that satisfied them like no other they had ever tasted – panicked when they saw the disciples get in the boat to cross the sea..." more... ________________________________ "MOVERS AND SHAKERS" - September 24, 2006; Mark 9:30-37, "At the U.S. Tennis Open Men’s Final, a couple of weeks ago between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick, a special guest appeared in the stands. It turns out that Roger Federer, (who many consider to be on his way to becoming one of the greatest tennis players of all time) had invited Tiger Woods (who many consider to be on his way to becoming one of the greatest golfers of all time) to watch the match..." more... ________________________________ "DISCONNECTED AND DISABLED" - October 1, 2006; Mark 9:38-50, "Yesterday, a friend of mine showed me her new ipod – how it’s connected to a computer chip that she placed in her sneaker and can track how many miles she’s walked and calories she’s burned. If she pushes herself to walk farther than ever before, the voice of Lance Armstrong comes through her headphones and says, "Great job!" more... ________________________________ "YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE" - October 15, 2006; Mark 10:17-31, "In the book, Inner Simplicity, Elaine St. James shares how a huge firestorm came through her area forcing her family to evacuate their home in a matter of minutes. As she took a last, quick scan of their possessions, she realized how few of them really mattered to their well-being and safety..." more... ________________________________ "LOVING GOD BACK" - October 21, 2006; Mark 10:46-52, "In today’s scripture passage, we meet the blind man Bartimaeus, begging on the side of the road. It seems to me he suffers from the ultimate heartbreak. Invisible, unloved and uncared for, we hear his desperation when he cries out: “Jesus, Song of David, have mercy on me!” more... ________________________________ "CAN WE DRINK THE CUP"- October 28, 2006; Mark 10:35-45, Here we go again. As we have been following the disciples these last several weeks, they just can’t hear Jesus’ words. Here in this passage, the disciples not only don’t get it, they want to know, “what’s in it for me?” more... ________________________________
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