November 27, 2016 Every Advent Season College Park works with a theme to unite our services as we lead up to Christmas Day.  This year’s conversation began at the August staff meeting.  We threw out ideas to brainstorm and then adjourned to let them ‘cook.’  A few weeks later, Michael sent an e-mail, floating the idea of using anxiety as our uniting theme.  We all felt strong energy around exploring how we live with anxiety and stress daily.  Our concern was how living in such an environment affects our bodies, our lives, our relationships with one another and our relationship with God.  We especially wanted to look at how holidays…

Like a Prayer – Luke 11:1-13 July 24, 2016 I come here today after finishing up an intense summer of camp; I have spent the past 15 months planning a program for over 3500 teenagers. It takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, or as they say…. prayer.  I spend my days praying for direction. That what I hear one day will still be relevant in 9 months during the camp season. I pray that we find the right qualified and gifted staffers to fill our teams so that children and youth may then hear the voice of God through them, or in-spite of them.  It can be exhausting and…

Michael’s insightful sermon about abortion from January 31, 2016. Before I begin, let me say that there are copies of this message by the exits, so that (as I’ve said to you before), if what is being chewed over lunch today is my backside, let it be for something I actually said. Just to be clear, no one prompted to speak about this, other than by the spirit. (I can usually come up with my own questionable ideas.) There is no crisis over this issue in our congregation or in my family, nor have I spoken with any of you recently about this. But I feel strongly that we as…

“So much violence in this world … We could spend our morning alternately praying and puking, but instead we will listen for what Jesus might be saying.” Watch this sermon by Michael Usey: Anger at God’s Generosity from November 16, 2015. New Testament Reading: Matthew 20: 1-16

1 Samuel 31.1-13 Sermon by Michael Usey November 23, 2014 The men were dressed all in black when they started on their dangerous journey.  It was dusk when they set out, so they hugged their families, and prayed that they might return to them soon.  The equipment that the men carried was heavy: ropes, hooks, long ladders, and a couple of litters for the return journey.  They walked quickly but quietly, as they were going deep into enemy territory.  To be discovered would mean a painful death. The going was extremely hard, since they only had torches for the first part of the trip.  Once they crossed into hostile territory,…

Exodus 1:6-22 Sermon by Keith Menhinick August 24, 2014 Regarding undocumented children in America, Homeland Security says, “How we treat the children, in particular, is a reflection of our laws and our values.” I am here to propose, How we treat the children is a reflection of our faith. Children of color disproportionately oppressed by our laws and institutions; children of our city disproportionately starved by our food insecurity. Our treatment of children reflects our faith, and it reflects our treatment of all people, for all are God’s children. My question is— How will we, the church of Jesus Christ, treat God’s children? In today’s scripture, two Hebrew midwives find…

Psalm 13 Sermon By Michael Usey August 2014 National Suicide Prevention Hotline: Website or Call 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology, published in 1915, is a collection of short poems, each narrated by a dead person in a cemetery.  I read parts of it in high school, probably hoping it was ghost stories.  Each of the 244 former citizens of the fictional town Spoon River, Illinois, tells the truth about their lives—with complete honesty and no fear of consequences.  Harold Arnett is a suicide who learns that facing hardship doesn’t end with leaving the physical world. Harold pulled the trigger, killing himself. Immediately, he sees blackness, then light…

Exchanging Caution for Courage – Same Sex Marriage & College Park Sermon by Michael Usey February 24, 2014 Scripture: Hebrews 13: 1-6 & Song of Songs 8: 6-7 When my mother, a life-long Baptist from North Georgia wanted to marry my father, a Roman Catholic Cajun from South Texas, they had a problem. No one would perform the ceremony in Georgia in January 1946. They had met on Saint Simon’s Island, my mother a schoolteacher, my dad a Navy aviator. Both sets of ministers declined to participate, and, while a justice of the peace could have married them, neither wanted that option. Finally, after much searching and meeting with priests…

Sermon by Eddie Self December 4, 2013 I should be happy. It’s the Christmas season after all. I should be decorating the house. I should be sending cards to all the people I love. I should be buying gifts for people I care for. I should be feeling the warmth of the season. I should be excited about Christmas day getting closer. I should be thankful that I’ve lived to see another Christmas come. I should be singing songs of good tidings and angels. I should be filled with hope and joy. I should feel the warmth of Jesus being made new in me this Advent season. Isn’t that what…

By Michael Usey Easter Sunday Wendell Berry is a farmer from Kentucky; he is also a poet. One of my favorite poems of his is called Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front. The poem starts with a description of the way we have died to true values and have entombed ourselves with petty appetites that lend no meaning long term. The poem begins: “Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even you future will be a mystery anymore. Your mind will be punched…

Sermon by Vicki Lumpkin December 5, 2012 (Blue Christmas) There are times in life when “Joy to the World” is simply not where your heart is, but “Bah humbug!” doesn’t express where you are, either. You may “gird up your loins”– there’s a good old biblical phrase! – to “troll the ancient yuletide carol,” but somehow in spite of your best effort, you end up half a step off, and half a beat late, somehow totally out of sync with the season. It’s not that your are inherently averse to twinkling lights and Christmas carols, to shiny ornaments and festive gatherings, it’s just that sometimes these things do more to…

Sermon by Michael Usey May 13, 2012 Thanks to all you who voted this week, however you voted.  This is a Baptist church and people follow their own conscience about most things, and I know you did about Amendment One.  Whether you voted for or against it, you are welcome here this morning and always.  If you didn’t vote and wanted to, there are people here that can help you register to vote in November’s national elections.  As on every Sunday, look around and you will see democrats, republicans, and independents; straight, gay and bi folks; pink folk and those with ebony skin and every shade in between; newborns and…

Sermon by Michael Usey [with lots of help from H. Stephen Shoemaker & Pam Strader, and a few others] Feb 19, 2012 My new favorite band, Rev Theory, has a song that begins, “You better hold to something; this one is gonna get bumpy.” (1) Good advice for this morning. First thing: there are copies of this sermon on the way out for you, so that, if what’s being chewed over lunch is my backside, then let it be for something I actually said. We’ll have a sermon talkback after my sermon, but keep in mind death threats should come by the usual avenues: email, phone and blood on my porch.…

Sermon by Matt Cravey December 25, 2011 Why don’t I just stick with the smaller, more practical, safer dreams? I think it has to do with the company I keep at College Park: They dream bigger when they should and then work hard to make sure things happen. They cook pancakes at Applebee’s at six in the morning so they can raise enough money to go to San Francisco and see the best and worst of what humanity is capable of. They sponsor “Green Queen Bingo” in order to tell the gay and lesbian community of Greensboro that there is a place where they are welcome to come as they…

May 23, 2010 Dear Mayor Bill Knight: Thank you for your service to Greensboro. In my church and my home, we pray for our public servants like you and the Greensboro City Council. I know serving as mayor of a city as large and complex as Greensboro is no easy task, and is often thankless. I am writing to express my disagreement over your decision to add prayer to city council meetings. I am a Christian minister, and I pray like I breathe. Yet I believe that this decision is divisive, exclusive, unnecessary, diminishing of prayer itself, and finally un-American. While I doubt my reasons will change your mind, I…

What We Can Learn From Mormons (and What They Can Learn From Us), Part Two Sermon by Michael Usey April 18, 2010 (Read Part One) Last week I talked with you about Mormonism. I shared with you that I believed Mormons were Christians, why I thought that, and talked about the reasons why we were partnering with them for the upcoming workday. This morning I was to share with you some things that we might learn from Mormons, and one thing they might learn from us. I’m going to accent the positives, but that doesn’t not mean I’m not aware of the negatives of both Mormon Christians and Baptist Christians.…

Sermon by Michael Usey April 11, 2010 I remember distinctly when I first knew Mormons were slightly different from me. I was in the fifth grade, living in the area of San Diego called Del Cerro, which means The Hills. I playing at my friend Matt Reed’s house; Matt was a part of a big LDS family, and his home was literally built in the side of a hill. We were playing army, and so were we were running all in his house and hiding. I was hiding in Matt’s kitchen when I opened the pantry door. It opened into what looked like an overstuffed 7-11. The pantry door was…