I Cried to God

Christopher L. Elwood

2 Samuel 12:7-25
September 14, 2007

This story, in which David pleads to God for the life of his infant son, reminds us that sometimes when we cry to God “from out of the depths” (Ps. 130) we don’t experience rescue or relief. In times when we struggle with God’s apparent silence, where is the Good News to be found? Listen to the sermon.

Wisdom's Winsome Way

Dr. David R. Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees
Professor of Ministry

April 27, 2007
1 Samuel 25 (selected verses)

We work together, play together, worship together, and care for each other. And sometimes, we get angry at each other. We get in each other’s ways. We get on each other’s nerves. We react sometimes foolishly. This is especially true when things are changing, and wow, are things ever changing in the world, in the church, and in the seminary. The old ways of doing church no longer work, and we find ourselves in the wilderness trying to find a better way.
Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Compassion and Accountability

David R. Sawyer
Director of Lifelong Learning and Advanced Degrees, and Professor of Ministry


1 Samuel 24:1-22
February 23, 2007

The sermon addresses the question, "How do we call each other to account and still be respectful and compassionate with each other?" It draws on the story of David and Saul at the cave at Engedi in which David restrains himself and his fighters from harming Saul, "the Lord's Anointed" but gives a strong speech juggling delicate issues of power and respect. "It's a slippery and difficult road we travel, being a human community, but trying to hold onto our ideals of faithfulness, loving each other, forgiving each other, speaking the truth in love to each other, granting each other grace in the face of the plain acknowledgement of our errors." Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF format.