Harvard-Epworth Church Harvard-Epworth Church

Sermon by United Methodist Bishop Peggy Johnson

Sermon by Rev Barb Lemmel and Rev Mitch Hay on January 21, 2024.

Gospel - Mark 1:14-20
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying,
The time is fulfilled;
the Kin-dom of God has come near;
let your lives be changed,
trust in the good news.
As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel.

Hebrew Scripture - 1 Samuel 3:1-11, 19
Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. The word of the Lord was rare in those days; visions were not widespread. At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his room; the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.”

Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me."

Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if God calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

Then the Lord said to Samuel, “See, I am about to do something in
Israel that will make both ears of anyone who hears of it tingle. . .”
As Samuel grew up the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.



Gospel - John 1:35-46
The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, ‘Look, here is the Lamb of God!’

The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, ‘What are you looking for?’ They said to him, ‘Rabbi’ (which translated means Teacher), ‘where are you staying?’ He said to them, ‘Come and see.’

They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, ‘We have found the Messiah’ (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, ‘You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas’ (which is translated Peter).

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of
Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have
found him about whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth.’ Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’

Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel.



Hebrew Scripture - Genesis 1:1-5

When God began the creating
of the heavens and the earth
when earth was wild and waste (tohu wa vohu),
darkness over the face of Ocean,
rushing-spirit of God (ruach) hovering over the face of the waters—
God said: Let there be Light! And there was light.
God saw the light: that it was good.
God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light: Day! and the darkness he called: Night!
There was setting, there was dawning: one day.

Gospel - John 1:1-5 & 14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was present to God from the beginning. All things came into being through the Word, and without the Word not one thing came into being. What has come into being in Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us.

A sermon by Rev. Barbara Lemmel on Christmas Eve 2023

A sermon by Rev. Mitchell Hay and Rev. Barbara Lemmel.



Gospel - Magnificat - Luke 1:46-55
And Mary said, “My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my
spirit rejoices in you, my Savior. For you have looked with favor upon your lowly servant, and from this day forward all generations will call me blessed.

For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me, and holy is your Name. Your mercy reaches from age to age for those who revere you. You have shown strength with your arm; you have scattered the proud in their conceit; you have deposed the mighty from their thrones and raised the lowly to high places. You have filled the hungry with good things, while you have sent the rich away empty.

You have come to the aid of Israel your servant, mindful of your
mercy—the promise you made to our ancestors—to Sarah and
Abraham and their descendants forever.”