Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

There are moments when we are called into spaces and places—or when places and spaces appear around us suddenly—where we feel helpless and overwhelmed by the need at hand. Into this world, we are called to see, to hear, to experience what is around us. And then we are called to speak good news, and even to heal. Rev. Casey FitzGerald preaches today on Matthew 9:35—10:23.

This summer, Dr. Larry R. Hayward preaches a sermon series on the Genesis selections of the Lectionary. The series begins with Genesis 1:26–31. In this first Creation story we encounter both a vertical relationship, between God and humanity, and a horizontal relationship--a communal relationship--within God's own person and with each other.

The church is a gathering of difference: different stories, different backgrounds, different calling, different life experiences, different gifts. In 1 Corinthians, Paul is writing to a divided church, one where certain gifts are being valued over others. Paul writes to remind them who they are, that the church is best when it is a motley crew of faithful folks seeking to bring humanity in reach of something higher. On the Day of Pentecost, Whitney Fauntleroy preaches on 1 Corinthians 12:3b–13.

As the disciples pick up the mantle of mission in Acts, they face bitterness, resistance, persecution. Some are imprisoned. Some are shipwrecked. Some are assailed by angry mobs. Yet the last memory they have of Christ is him blessing them: thus they are able to carry on, even when carrying on is the last thing they have the confidence to do. Larry Hayward preaches on the Ascension of the Lord from Luke 24:44-53.

Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, concludes her series on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Fear of Gentiles to Welcoming Gentiles."

If our task as the church is to participate in the inbreaking of God’s kingdom on earth, perhaps we need not aim for some heroic and decisive departure from everything we have known in order to follow Jesus. Perhaps we just to situate ourselves at the beginning of the story, in the crowd that is eager to listen. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Luke 5:1-11.

Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Church Persecutor to Church Planter." Through May 21.

In a context in which disciples are confused and fearful of Jesus’s leaving – “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” – Christ is saying, with calm reassurance, “You have seen the Father because you have seen me. I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Jesus is expressing exalted reassurance, not a call to conversion or theological precision. How does the beauty and power of John’s language about Christ actually lift our souls into his presence and lead us to belief? Larry Hayward preaches today on John 14:1-14.

Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Timid Disciples to Bold Witnesses for Jesus." Through May 21.

On Youth Sunday, several of our twelfth-grade students reflect on Psalm 23. Speakers are Anne-Marie Berens, Andi Scroggs, Chris Neureiter, Julia Ruffino, and Jilly Stone.

Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Private Property to the Common Good." Through May 21.

Those of us who are well-acquainted with the story of the resurrection still desire to encounter it anew. How can we experience the resurrection as something that is vivid and real to the heartbeat of this life, not just some promise of the life that is to come or some story from many years ago? Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 24:13–35.

When the risen Christ appears to his disciples as a body in John, Christ bestows upon them the power to represent him in the world, and the power to "forgive" and "retain" sin. What does this offering of forgiveness do for us today? Larry Hayward preaches on John 20:19-23.

Rev. Dr. Kathryn Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary, reflects on the experience of the early church, as described in the book of Acts, in dealing with both personal and social change. This week's theme is "From Saness to Joy and from Easter to Pentecost." Through May 21.

The only real way we can respond to the resurrection of Christ is to fall down and worship. For people of faith, worship is crucial in accepting and preparing for a great responsibility, for our Great Commission. Larry Hayward preaches on Easter Sunday from Matthew 28:1–10, 16–20.

Today is traditionally known as Palm Sunday, the day in which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey and was greeted by crowds waving palm branches and cheering, a day that leads to Jesus’ death but ultimately to his resurrection. It is the resurrection of Christ that makes his teaching beyond that of a great teacher, his death beyond that of a martyr, his life beyond that of other great lives, both those lived to their fullness of days and those cut short by human conflict and violence. And it all begins with a procession into Jerusalem on a donkey, to the waving of branches and shouts of “Hosanna!” Dr. Larry Hayward preaches today on Matthew 21:1-11, using Mary Oliver’s poem, “The Poet Thinks About the Donkey.” This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.

Dr. Victoria Barnett, Director of Programs on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, challenges our understanding of how the Holocaust radically transformed the relationship between Christians and Jews. She will provide an overview of the role Christian churches played and explore post-Holocaust conversations between Christians and Jews. One session will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in this history.

In today's story, Jesus finds his friends in difficult places, filled with fear and grief. In times of our own fear and grief, we often ask the same thing they did: “Why?” Jesus says, “Come, and see.” Casey FitzGerald preaches on John 11:1-54.

King David is a person with tremendous capacity for good and evil, compassion and cruelty, tenderness and violence. Why would an all-powerful and all-knowing God invest God’s very self in a person like David – or for that matter a person like you or me? Why would God take such risk? Larry Hayward preaches from 1 Samuel 16:1-13.

Dr. Victoria Barnett, Director of Programs on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, challenges our understanding of how the Holocaust radically transformed the relationship between Christians and Jews. She will provide an overview of the role Christian churches played and explore post-Holocaust conversations between Christians and Jews. One session will focus on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s role in this history.