Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

Sathi Clarke, Wesley Seminary’s Chair in World Christianity and Professor of Theology, Culture & Mission This is a three-class series on world religions and Christian theology that adopts a way of belonging, behaving, and believing for the common good.

Peter Wehner, Senior Fellow at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, speaks to us about how many orthodox and evangelical Christians feel increasingly marginalized. How should we think about engagement in a culture that is both effective and faithful, and what is the political role in all of this?

“You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored?” “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden.” Though Jesus never uses the word “church,” he is describing not only what the individual life of the Christian is to be, but also what the followers of Jesus Christ are collectively to be. He is describing the church. Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 5:13-20.

The decades-old conflict between Israel and Palestine is at a critical impasse. What will American diplomacy be in the days and year ahead? Ambassador Wilcox talks about this tragic conflict between Israel, who aspires to be a democratic and Jewish state, and Palestine, whose people live under unjust occupation and want a state of their own. Ambassador Wilcox served in the U.S. Foreign Service for 31 years, his last post as Chief of Mission and U.S. Consul General in Jerusalem.

The Beatitudes speak to what it means to be a Christian and what it means to be the church. Are they commandments to follow in this life, or are they descriptions of the life to come? Are they reflections of the way things are or the way things ought to be? Larry Hayward preaches on Matthew 5:1-12.

Dr. G. Wilson Gunn, Jr., General Presbyter, National Capital Presbytery, speaks to us about adaptive change and leadership in posts where we seek to lead, about changes at the presbytery level, and answer any questions members might bring to the session concerning our presbytery.

The Christian Church around the world is in a season of focusing on the beginnings of the ministry of Jesus Christ. How did Jesus’ ministry reflect the political circumstances of his day, and how did he prepare for it? How did his followers respond to his call to ministry? Larry Hayward preaches today from Matthew 4:12-22.

A follow-up to their fall discussion on Christian-Muslim engagement, at this session Salih speaks to the challenges of fostering interfaith dialougue in America. His wife, Dr. Zeyneb Sayilgan, brings a Muslim woman’s perspective to the conversation. Salih Sayilgan is a teaching fellow at the Catholic University of America where he teaches courses on Islam and World Religions.

“I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) “Here is the Lamb of God who lifts up the sins of the world!” (John 1:29) On the weekend we celebrate and remember the life and work of Dr. King, we see in John’s gospel a Savior that makes the sins of the world visible before us. When we say we want to follow Jesus, do we understand what it is we’re going to see? How do we live with the tension that recognizing our sins brings us? Casey FitzGerald preaches on John 1:29-42.

How do we extend brotherhood and sisterhood to those with whom we disagree? What are our own misperceptions of people of other faith? Imam Zia and his wife, Fatimah, have spent a decade working in this field. They have much to share with us. Learn more about our Muslim brothers and sisters and hear first-hand how we can bridge our divides with selfless service and compassion.

You may best know the words to the third chapter of Ecclesiastes from a pop song. But what do these words tell us about life as we begin a new year? Larry Hayward preaches today on Ecclesiastes 3:1-15.

On Christmas Day, Larry Hayward leads us in a series of Scripture and literature readings in celebration of Christ's birth. Today's literature readings come from "For the Time Being" by W.H. Auden. The Scripture lessons are Matthew 2:1-2, 10-12; Luke 2:15–20; John 6:1–3, 5, 8–14; Luke 2:25–32; and are read by Amanda and Laura Wilcox.

"When we come to this place on Christmas Eve, we bring what is going on in our lives, what is going on in our families, and what is going on in our world, including its inherent sadness. Yet what we experience when we arrive here are words and music and silence and prayer and candlelight and harp that tell a story so transcendent that it reaches down from the heavens, lifts us into its arms, calls us by name, consoles and strengthens us, as it moves us to a new emotional and spiritual place." Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Christmas Eve. Tonight's scripture lesson is Luke 1:26-38. The reading from W.H. Auden's "For the Time Being" was done by the Rev. Casey FitzGerald.

This Christmas Eve morning, Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Luke 2:8-19.

When faced with Mary’s unexpected pregnancy, Joseph considers his options. We imagine he talks with his family or friends, consults Biblical texts he has memorized as a child, prays, listens to his own sense of conscience – engaging, in other words, his moral imagination. What begins as a noble exercise in Joseph’s moral imagination leads Joseph to experience the presence of God, learn the will of God, and join that will at work in the whole creation. Larry Hayward preaches from Matthew 1:18-25.

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. To conclude this series, we look a central theme of the Reformed tradition, the idea that we are saved by "faith alone." What does that mean? How is it related to the idea that Christians are known by their (good) works? Why have critics sometimes accused Reformed Christians of excessive emphasis on "works"?

The church turns to Isaiah frequently during Advent because it finds in his beautiful poetry resonance with the promises of redemption that come in and through the birth of Jesus Christ. Larry Hayward preaches on this third Sunday of Advent from Isaiah 35:1-10.

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at Humanism: Calvin said the Bible is a source of wisdom about the human condition; and even though he believed much of that wisdom had do with human sinfulness, he still thought it was ultimately "good news." Why?

“I know that so many of our families, our marriages, our working relationships, our friendships, our churches, our communities, are frayed. I know it is easy to feel like we are standing in that burned out forest, smoke and ash beneath our feet. But I also know that in the burned out forest in which we live, a tiny shoot sprouts from a branch – a shoot from the stump of Jesse. I know that when the One born in Bethlehem arrives, through him we will have come to understand ourselves to be freer than we have ever understood ourselves to be free before.” Larry Hayward preaches on Isaiah 11:1-10. (This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.)

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at "The True God?" The beginning of wisdom, Calvin said, is the knowledge of God we derive from Scripture. But that knowledge often conflicted, he said, with the things human beings think they know about God. What exactly does the Bible tells us about God's nature, purposes, etc.?