Preaching in Pumps | Sermons by Rev. Sarah E. Weaver

Happy Easter, friends! I hope wherever you are you are home, safe and proclaiming the Good News of Christ's resurrection. It was bittersweet to not be able to worship in person this morning, but I really do believe that now is the time to lean into our faith as we heed the recommendations to stay home so we can flatten the curve. I love you all.  Despite the challenging times we are living through right now, I still believe in the hope of the Easter promise that Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed. Enjoy ...  - Sarah

Hi friends! It's so crazy to think that, back when all this started, our plan was to be back in church by this Sunday!  My office admin actually called me not long after we moved to virtual worship and asked if she should cancel the palms and I said no, that I didn't think we would actually be back together by then, but that we would find a way to distribute them anyway.  Well - we opted not to distribute them.  Currently we are entering the worst of things in the northeast and the Deacons and I decided that it was more responsible for us to remind people to stay home than to give anyone another excuse to leave the house.  So we adorned our front doors with greens and had our kiddos cut palms out of construction paper and just worked with what we had this year!  If you get a chance, I would encourage you to at least watch the gathering music portion of the video - I included hosanna photos and videos people sent me with the music. Here is my sermon, as well as audio and visual.  Stay safe.  Stay healthy.  Stay home. Love you all. Enjoy ...  -Sarah

Hi Friends, It is hard to believe, but this is week three of our virtual worship.  I actually moved my livestream home this week.  I am still preaching through the lectionary Lenten texts.  This morning was the story of the resurrection of Lazarus.  I think it is fitting right now that we are reading stories of miraculous healing and resurrection - we all need the reminder and reassurance that we will be redeemed. Enjoy ... -Sarah

Hi friends, It is hard to believe that only a week has passed since our first virtual worship service.  It feels like a lifetime has gone by, with information and and situations changing so quickly.  We have extended our suspension of in-person worship, activities and programs through Sunday, April 5th (per Governor Baker's orders) and will reassess and likely adjust as that date gets closer. We are working to get everything online at the church.  If you are interested in supporting us financially while our in-person worship in suspended and we aren't collected offerings in worship, you can do so here. Here is this morning's sermon - I hope it brings you peace and hope.

In these times of social distancing, I am grateful for the ability to connect with people through online presence.  While it does not replace in-person community (and I know there are those who do not have access that we still need to call!) it was cool to "gather" with my people this morning and to feel like we were still together, in a way. Here is my sermon. We did a livestream from our closed Facebook group so we were able to share prayer requests.  For privacy sake, I edited that part out! Love you all - stay safe. -Sarah

Hi friends! I know we are living through crazy and surreal times right now.  We, like churches all across the country (and world!), are taking extra precautions right now to protect our community against the Corona Virus.  We are following guidelines issued by the United Church of Christ and limiting our human contact, which means engaging in alternative forms of passing of the peace, not having greeting lines and not inviting people to join hands where I would have before (usually the kids hold hands for their prayer at the children's sermon and we hold hands for the benediction).  We are asking people to be mindful of their own germs and to not come to church if they are sick - I did notice our attendance was down last week, but I wonder if any of that had to do with the time change as well (zzz). Anyway - one of the ways worship can still be accessible to my community during this outbreak is through this space!  So here is my sermon from Sunday.  We are back on the lectionary for Lent and I was preaching out of John. Enjoy ...  - Sarah

We kicked off our Lenten season on Sunday in the wilderness with Jesus.  I'm back on the lectionary for the time being and we are going to preach through the Gospel thread during Lent.  I decided not to talk about temptations this year in looking at this narrative, but about being in the wilderness in general - because I think we all find ourselves there at some point in our lives! I did preach at our Ash Wednesday service - I referenced it in this sermon.  I will post at least the text at some point this week if anyone is interested. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends!  Happy Shrove Tuesday! We had our big Mardi Gras celebration at the church on Sunday - it was so much fun!  Decorations, brass, food and a mocktail bar - it doesn't get better than that! Our Ash Wednesday Worship service is at 7PM tomorrow.  If you are in Rehoboth, I would love to see you there!  You do not have to get ashes imposed if you would just like to enjoy the service. Here is my sermon from Sunday - the story of the Transfiguration! Enjoy ...  -Sarah

Finishing up our glance at 1 Corinthians, we came off a wonderful evening of show tunes at RCC and then gathered for worship on Sunday morning.  It was a great weekend to finish up this sermon series, think about what local churches are capable of doing (because y'all we have done a lot over the past couple of weeks) and then settle down and start thinking about the Lenten season. Mardi Gras Sunday is this week!  I decided to jump back into the Revised Common Lectionary (I know, I know) for Lent, so I will be following the Gospel texts until Easter Sunday. Enjoy! -Sarah

No, not the Celine Dion song, although you better believe I listened to it while I was writing my sermon this week! This scripture was actually the catalyst for this sermon series looking at 1 Corinthians in the first place.  I wanted to explore some of the "love" passages in the Bible that we know so well to help us, as a congregation, as we continue to figure out how to best love God, love one another and then love others.  Though not at all planned, the timing was perfect in light of Valentine's Day this week! We only have one more week left in this sermon series and then it's Mardi Gras, Lent (I think I'm going to follow the RCL for Lent) and then I'm having a baby!  I cannot believe that at the end of Lent, I will (hopefully) be preaching Easter and then will be off on maternity leave for 10 weeks.  This pregnancy flew by! Enjoy ...  -Sarah

The deacon leading worship on Sunday came into my office before church and was commenting on how much he loves this scripture.  Honestly, it's always been one of my favorites!  It's wonderful as it stands alone, but then, when you think about the fact that it leads into Paul's words on love, is even more powerful. There are so many different directions you can go with this text!  I talked about the distribution of work within the Body mostly because I thought it was timely with where we are, as a church, but really the possibilities are endless when you preach this.  There's so much good stuff in it! Enjoy! -Sarah

We continued our five-week journey through 1 Corinthians this week by looking at the fourth chapter in its entirety.  One of the things I love about doing scripture-based sermon series (as opposed to theme-based, which is what we did in Advent and over the summer) is that I really don't know, from week to week, where my sermon is going to go.  Sometimes it is dictated by what is going on throughout the week and, in the case of this sermon, that was what happened. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends! We started a sermon series on Sunday looking at pieces of 1 Corinthians.  It's not my ideal - I really love looking at scripture in a linear and continual way - but we have five weeks before the Transfiguration and beginning of Lent and I figured it would be too choppy to get through the whole thing with breaks for Mardi Gras, Palm Sunday, Easter, etc.  So hopefully this will give everyone a flavor!  I say this in my sermon, but I would encourage you to fill in the gaps that we miss so you can read the letter in its entirety over the next five weeks! Enjoy ... -Sarag

Last year I had some major FOMO when all my friends were preaching Baptism of Christ and doing amazing remembrance of baptism liturgies and I was on the Year of Mark and didn't get to join in on the fun.  It didn't work out this year that I was able to do a big baptism remembrance (which honestly, I'm not sure how you do logistically that with 160 people in church anyway!) but we did do a liturgy in between concerns and celebrations where I offered a blessing from the font and then that led into the pastoral prayer.  It was lovely!  And, after receiving a lot of positive feedback, it reminded me that sometimes less is more and simple things really can make a difference in people's lives. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends and Happy New Year! Like so many other churches, we have adopted the "star word" tradition at RCC to coincide with Epiphany.  This is the 4th year we have done it, so my sermon is brief, as we invite people from the congregation to stand up and share their "star stories" from the year before.  Last year my word was affirmation, so I talked a little bit about that and also about star words in general.  If you didn't get a star word and would like one, please let me know!  I'm happy to draw and send you one. Enjoy ... -Sarah

Hi friends!  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!  Here is my sermon from our 9PM service on Christmas Eve. Happy New Year! Enjoy ...  -Sarah

Hi Friends!  We finished up our Advent sermon series on spiritual practices this week by looking at evangelism through the story of the shepherds and the angels.  This is my last Advent sermon - our Christmas pageant is this Sunday.  I will be back a few days after Christmas to post my Christmas sermon.  Merry Christmas everyone!  Our cries for Emmanuel have been heard! Enjoy ... -Sarah

Hi friends! I cannot believe that Christmas Eve is TWO weeks away.  This season is flying by and I am trying to soak it up and enjoy time with my family, while also enjoying all of the wonderful things we do at church, as well! Sunday was our second week into our three-week Advent sermon series looking at some of the spiritual practices the Christmas story teaches us.  Ironic that I was preaching my sermon on hospitality the same week as our annual meeting where I gave my report and also talked about hospitality!  We had a double baptism on Sunday, so I tried to keep things on the brief side ("tried" - ha!). Enjoy ...  -Sarah  

Hi friends! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We capped off our Thanksgiving weekend with a wonderful Hanging of the Greens service in worship on Sunday and then a hugely successful Giving Tuesday two days later. (If you are interested in donating to that campaign, our page is still live!) On Sunday we kicked off a three-week Advent sermon series looking at some of the spiritual practices we learn about in the Christmas story.  We started with service - and the stories of Mary and Joseph.  The sermon is shorter, because - between Hanging of the Greens and Communion - we had a lot going on in worship! Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends!  We finished up our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount this week with a beautiful Thanksgiving worship service, which included a baptism and a beautiful cornucopia on the altar.  I used my sermon not only as an opportunity to talk about this text, but also to wrap-up what we talked about this fall. Preacher friends, this was a great series!  There are one or two things I would tweak in terms of the schedule, but I thought 12 weeks was a good amount of time to get through it.  Did we touch on everything?  No - but you never will!  But if we had broken it down into a longer amount of time, I think it would have been too long.  Feel free to reach out by email or social media if you'd like me to send you our schedule and any more information. Enjoy!

Hi friends! I took a week off from preaching, but not from our sermon series.  Last week the passage in the Sermon on the Mount was the "ask, seek, knock" and "the golden rule" - which was not at all planned, but timed perfectly with our annual Homeless Awareness Weekend.  It was always our tradition to have one or two kids stand up and share their experiences, but last year I actually made every single one of our participants stand up and share something that they had prepared either the night before or that morning.  They did SO well that we did it again this year and I opted not to preach at all.  There definitely is a part of me that doesn't like to "give up" my sermon time, but honestly - it was necessary this year.  The reflections were SO GOOD and said a thousand things that I never could have.  The adults were reflecting on what the kids said all week - I told the confirmands on Sunday this week that they should be proud. So here we are - one wee away from finishing this sermon series!  I have always loved the end of the sermon on the mount, because you can tell Jesus is getting excited to finish talking so they can hit the ground running.  The funny thing is that even though I didn't preach last week, I kind of got my reflections on Homeless Awareness in this weekend!  I guess it's hard for me to actually let it go completely - ha! Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi Friends! We are coming off an amazing bazaar weekend at the church. We raised $17,000! When I first started in Rehoboth, we would typically raise $10,000-$12,000 and that number has slowly been rising over the past few years.  Last year we came really close to breaking $15,000, so this was incredible!  And honestly - more than that, it was just fun.  Everyone was smiling, no one person was doing all of the work, everyone was pitching in wherever they were needed and, as a cherry on top, the weather was perfect!  It was so much fun. My sermon this week is short because we had an extended time of announcements for Homeless Awareness Weekend, it was All Saints Sunday, Communion Sunday and we welcomed new members at the end of worship.  And church still went until 11:20!  Thankfully no one was complaining. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends!  This sermon kind of took a different direction than I thought it was going to, but things kept happening throughout the week pushing me to look at the scripture in a different way. To give some background, I shared with the congregation on Friday morning that I am pregnant with our second child, due in April.  I start the sermon by talking about a doctor's appointment I had at the beginning of the week that made me have to live out Jesus' words, "Do not worry." Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends! Sunday was my annual stewardship sermon, although Bruce told me last night that he didn't feel like it was so much a stewardship sermon as it was a sermon on why I love the church so much.  But that totally ties into why I give to the church, right? We're still in the middle of our sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount!  This week's scripture tied in really nicely to our stewardship theme.  A totally God thing! Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends!  This sermon should not have been a hard one to preach, but the timing of it falling the same week our stewardship packets were mailed made it much more challenging!  I had one thing in mind, but ended up scrapping it and taking a different course, which I actually think started some good conversations. I'm curious - how do your churches handle stewardship?  Is it a quiet thing or are you encouraged to talk about it more?  I love hearing about other church's stewardship practices - I'm kind of a stewardship nerd! Enjoy ... -Sarah

Hi friends!  I hope you all had a wonderful World Communion Sunday celebration.  We had a beautiful bread installation on the altar that made the chancel smell soooooooo good! This Sunday we looked at the last three of the six antitheses, concerning oaths, concerning retaliation and love for enemies.  Enjoy ...  -Sarah

Guys. Weeks like this are the ones where I miss the lectionary and the ability to say - let me see what the epistle is this week, ha! It wasn't an easy week to walk up to the pulpit, but it's week's like these that are making me a better preacher - and we are all learning more! Here is this week's sermon! Enjoy ...

I have gotten nothing but positive feedback about moving away from the lectionary and into a sermon-series mindset.  To be clear - I don't think there is anything wrong with the lectionary!  I just think I had gotten to a point where I wasn't feel inspired by the cycle and I needed something to kick start me. This week Jesus talks about the law and the prophets.  I wasn't really sure what to do about a children's sermon, so I ended up using an apple to talk about the different parts of God.  An apple has different parts - peel, flesh and core - just like God has different parts - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  It was a pretty good seasonal visual, which I liked - I probably didn't think the whole "bring a sharp knife up to the children's sermon to peel the apple" part through, but it all worked out!  I think if I were to do it again I would set up a table with an actual apple peeler.  Next time! Enjoy ... -Sarah

Continuing with our sermon series on The Sermon on the Mount, this weeks sermon focused on the passage where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth ... you are the light of the world."  I had a really great idea to do a children's sermon where we all tried salt-free popcorn and then added salt to see the difference in taste but apparently salt-free microwave popcorn is not a thing?  At least it wasn't at Stop & Shop.  The "healthy" ones all have sea salt.  I suppose I could have used a popcorn maker, but that wasn't going to happen on a Sunday morning, ha! Anyway, this is a text that is kind of hard to preach because it's fairly straightforward.  But there were three things jumped out at me that I thought were worth reinforcing, so I just did a sermon in kind of a bullet-point format instead of just making one point (if that makes sense?).  I've gotten a lot of positive feedback from my congregation, so I hope you get something out of it, too! Enjoy ... - Sarah

Hi friends!  We kicked off the program year at RCC this weekend with a fun Rally "Weekend" - we had a Rally Night on Friday night with a cookout, games, s'mores, movie and fellowship for all ages!  Apparently this was an old tradition at RCC that hasn't happened in a few years (this was my 9th Rally Weekend at RCC and I've never experienced it, so it's been that long, at least!), so we thought we'd do it again this year and had a great time!  The Youth Group stuck around for a lock-in that night and it just kind of put us in the spirit for Rally Day on Sunday. We did a blessing of the backpacks on Sunday during worship - we invite the kids to bring in their backpacks from home and we put tags on them and then say a blessing over them.  It was great to have such a wonderful turnout with our families (42 kids total!). We kicked off a 12-week sermon series on the Sermon on the Mount this weekend by looking at The Beatitudes.  I started by talking about why I chose a scripture-based sermon series (as opposed to a thematic one) for this fall and then talked broadly about the Sermon on the Mount before focusing on the Beatitudes. Enjoy! -Sarah

This is it for our summer sermon series on hospitality!  This week is Rally Day and the beginning of a 12-week sermon series on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which will bring us through Thanksgiving. It was fun to look at hospitality this summer - I actually had a lot of great feedback from people who gave me tangible ideas and suggestions of ways that we, as a church, can improve.  I hope this is one of those sermon series that we keep talking about, long after it's over. The question we answered in this final week was, how can we create a space where people feel welcome? Enjoy ... 

Hi friends!  It has been almost a month since my last sermon.  I didn't realize I would be away from the pulpit from that long, but since I was away for two weeks and then came back to Beatles Sunday, it ended up being almost a month without a sermon. We are still in our six-week sermon series on hospitality.  The topic of discussion this week was:  How do we serve others? Enjoy!

I have been thinking about this sermon since last October when my family went to Disney and I became obsessed with name tags and then again since April and I was preaching on the resurrection narrative out of John and noticed that Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus until he called her by name.  It was a long time coming and the coolest part was that we had a fundraising event at Hillside Country Club the next day and everyone who showed up to help wore their name tag - without me sending out a reminder! Enjoy ...  - Sarah

Hi friends!  Since the Year of Mark is over, we are taking a few weeks to talk about hospitality before we kick off the fall with a new sermon series.  I'm not sure where we will go next - the Year of Mark was compelling because of the continual narrative, which we all really liked.  We'll see!  I'm still trying to think through some stuff.  To be continued! We kicked off our summer sermon series on hospitality with a very hot and humid day and worship in the air conditioned Fellowship Hall!  It was definitely a wonderful alternative and a nice example of how sometimes you have to adjust your plans if circumstances change!  The topic was, why is the important anyway?   Enjoy ... -Sarah

We did it!  We finished the Year of Mark!  I am not really sure what's next - a sermon series on hospitality for the rest of the summer and then, who knows?  The Year of Mark has changed me in a lot of ways, and it certainly has changed my preaching.  It's very unlike me not to have a plan, but I think that is just where I need to be right now!  Let's see where the spirit moves ... Enjoy! - Sarah

Christ is risen!  Love wins!  Resurrection is real! ... and yet the Year of Mark is not over yet. :) This week I preached on the shorter ending of the Gospel of Mark and I talked about how, even thought this is probably the least satisfying resurrection story, it is also a really realistic one when it comes to how we experience the Risen Christ in our lives. Enjoy! - Sarah

I preached this sermon on the heels of a really hard funeral for a lot of us the day before.  I had planned to end the service with Old Rugged Cross and when I looked out in the congregation so many people had tears in their eyes.  It has been a hard year for a lot of people and I think reading through this Passion Narrative has been oddly therapeutic as it has reminded us that grace is still present, even in the hard stuff. Have a safe and happy 4th of July holiday everyone! Enjoy ...  - Sarah

When I decided to preach through the Gospel of Mark, I didn't really think much about what it would be like to preach through the end of it.  We usually just tell the story - I've never preached on Maundy Thursday or Good Friday.  It's been a really good challenge for me, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't considering preaching at some point next year during Holy Week.  There's a lot going on in this passage - my sermon barely scrapes the surface!  I talked about the role of the centurion and what this means for us as we see Jesus for who he is and then proclaim that message to the world. Enjoy! -Sarah

Guys. We started the summer with a bang on Sunday. A few highlights. - Our Music Director totally spaced that we moved to 9AM and so worship started "fashionably late". - My sweet little angel baby was in worship because our nursery care provider isn't contracted for the summer and he MADE HIS PRESENCE KNOWN.  When I stood up to make announcements he yelled, "MAMA GET DOWN!" and then cried when Bruce said, "shhhh".  At one point he ran up to the pulpit, found a leftover confetti canon from Easter and set it off.  Bruce took him out and then his friend, Bridget, who was sitting behind him with his mom started crying, "I want Harrison!"  #PKlifebelike - I found a typo in the baptismal liturgy, which was totally my fault and ugggggh.  I hate that. - A cat ran into the sanctuary at the end of my sermon and made it halfway down the aisle before one of the Deacons caught up to her. Sooooo, yeah.  I need to regroup this week. I was preaching on the condemnation of Jesus, which I imagine rendered its own level of chaos when it was happening.  So I guess the lesson in all of this is whether we are yelling, "Crucify him!" or, "There's a cat in the sanctuary!" God is present in the midst of the mayhem. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi Friends! We were off the Year of Mark this week for Pentecost.  There was no denying the Holy Spirit was present on Sunday when you walked into church!  We had a big fabric installation and a cake with sparkler candles and everyone wore red. Sunday was also Children's Day at RCC, so it was a really short sermon before the older kids did their "memorable moments" skit, where they each talked about their most memorable moment at the church this year. Enjoy! -Sarah

We are nearing the end of our Year Of Mark!  We will be taking the week off for Pentecost and Children's Day and then will pick it up again on June 16th - Father's Day.  This week was Peter's Denial.  I talked about what it means that Jesus called the Church into being and how we can use this space to hold ourselves accountable to who we are, as people of faith, and who God is calling us to be. Enjoy! - Sarah

Hi Friends!  I hope you all had a safe and peaceful Memorial Day Weekend.  It is the tradition of the Rehoboth Congregational Church to worship outdoors on the Ephraim Hunt Ministerial Land Memorial Day Weekend.  We were a little bit nervous about the weather, but it turned out to be the most gorgeous morning for an outdoor service! I continued with the Year Of Mark, even though I knew we would draw a smaller crowd for worship and it's a tougher space to preach in.  The text is Jesus' trial before the Council and I talked about how this story exposes our own human vulnerability as we read it. The sound quality might not be the best on the audio - it's tough to record outside.  But hopefully not too bad! Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi friends!  Here is my sermon from Sunday - I was preaching on Judas' betrayal and Jesus' arrest.  It's funny, because as I was wrestling with the text this week I thought to myself, "This is why we rarely preach on this stuff!"  I feel bad, because I have a feeling my congregation is going to get a lot of me not coming to any conclusions from here until we finish the Year of Mark.  But perhaps maybe inviting them into my own process of trying to understand it is more important. Enjoy! -Sarah

Hi Friends! Here is my sermon from last Sunday - Jesus praying in Gethsemane.  I have to admit that I was having a hard time not laughing every time I mentioned Peter, James and John falling asleep because all I could think of was that episode of Friends where Ross and Rachel got back together and she wrote him an 18 page letter (FRONT AND BACK) and he fell asleep while reading it and when they fought about it and Ross told Rachel he had fallen asleep and not finished the letter she said, "you fell aSLEEP?!" Thankfully I know well enough to keep those thoughts to myself when I'm actually preaching. Enjoy! Sarah

Hi friends - here is my sermon from yesterday. I was preaching on the last supper - conveniently timed with the first Sunday of the month, which meant that it was also Communion Sunday. As I reflected on the last supper during my sermon, I'm seriously considering revising our communion liturgy at some point this summer. I want to simplify the language and really remind us - myself included - why it is that we gather. Enjoy ...  Sarah

Hi friends!  I can't believe May begins this week!  I am not really sure where the week went. Even though it was the week after Easter and most of my friends were preaching Doubting Thomas, we were back in the Year of Mark this morning, actually beginning the Passion Narrative (which, yes, felt like 5 giant steps backwards considering we celebrated the resurrection last week, but also I am looking at it as a great way to get a resurrection do-over - ha!). This sermon reflects on The Year of Mark and then talks about the stories we are telling and reinforcing in our lives.  I think sometimes we are inclined to focus on the negative, but if we look there are really amazing and grace-filled things happening in our lives! Enjoy ... -Sarah

Happy Easter!  I have so much to say about our Easter service, but for the time being, I will leave you with my Easter sermon.  It was short and sweet, but that's the way I like Easter sermons - after all, the story speaks for itself! Enjoy ... 

Bonus sermon this week!  RCC hosted our area men's ecumenical Palm Sunday breakfast this year, so we had worship and communion at 7AM and then the men gathered for breakfast afterwards.  Here is that sermon!  Apparently I had a lot to say about Palm Sunday this year? Enjoy ... -Sarah

Hi Friends!  Posting this quickly before Palm Sunday is completely irrelevant.  We were, of course, in the Gospel of Mark. Enjoy! -Sarah

Here is my sermon from Sunday! I can honestly say that I don't think I have ever preached on this text. It's dark and challenging and a little but scary - but also has SO much to teach us! Also - if anyone has any suggestions for how to brew good church coffee - email or DM me! I haven't given up yet - ha! Enjoy ...  Sarah

Okay, so my proud blogging moment of March was when I went through and updated all of my pages and then created a Year of Mark page where all of my sermons from Mark are archived!  It's crazy to look back and see how far we have gotten. Here is my sermon from last Sunday.  It was the end of chapter 12, the end of the Gospel narrative, before the apocalypse in chapter 13 transitions us into the Passion.  I feel like everyone in the church is really into this right now!  It's going to be a little bit odd celebrating Easter and then jumping back into the Passion and the crucifixion and resurrection but also we are all really caught up in the story right now, so I think it will be fine. Here's my sermon!  Enjoy ...  -Sarah