Sermons by Rev. Jason S. Glombicki (Page 79)

Halloween is Saturday, and this weekend Wicker Park and much of Chicago are full of festivals with pumpkins, corn mazes, and games. Just yesterday our church participated in Wicker Park’s version called Boo-palooza. With these Halloween celebrations comes the annual process of choosing, making, and wearing a costume. These costumes we create and design often communicate to others the essential aspects of what we are trying to represent or become. The action of creating a costume often requires us to determine what is fundamental. We have to determine if a bandana, boots, a plaid shirt, and jeans are enough to represent a cowboy. We need to figure out if dressing in white and placing a giant “S” on our stomach will get people to think “saltshaker.” All in all, the choices we make about our costume determine how we view the item or individual that we attempt to embody. It so happens that Reformation Day and Halloween are the same day. While Martin Luther wasn’t dressed up as a cowboy or saltshaker when he posted his 95 theses, Luther’s life long dwelling in the scriptures helps us better understand the essence of God…

This is fun today! Isn’t it great having some pets in worship today? I love the sounds of both pets and children in this space. When I think about my childhood I can’t help but remember the many animals I had growing up. And I’m not the only child with pets, in fact it’s estimated that 4 in 10 children begin life in a family with a pet, and as many as 90% of children live with a pet at some point during their childhood. Yet, by the looks of it here, it’s not just children who love having pets — we adults really enjoy our non-human friends too. We all have reasons why we love pets, or perhaps why we don’t really like pets or why pets don’t like us. Regardless, today’s scripture readings give us three views on animals…

If you’ve ever been to a planetarium or stared at the sky in a dark place, then you’ve probably noticed the stars. Just imagine right now that you’re looking at a star. A star is a sphere of plasma held together by gravity that gives off light– how cool is that? Of course, our closest star is the sun, but let’s focus on a distant one. That star is likely to have its own solar system of planets around it. That star could be low-mass or high-mass. That light you see could also be from a dead star – after all, the light it emitted could still be traveling to us for thousands of light years away long after it collapsed…