The Unnamed, III : Pharaoh's Sommelier
January 29, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Genesis 39—41
So in this sermon series I want to pay tribute to some of the characters in the Bible who are important to the story, but never get a name. They are The Unnamed. They’re not Nameless; they all have a name, but we don’t know what it is. There are lots of them, scores, maybe hundreds. I want to talk about a few. it’s that sommelier who stands out in my mind. That is to say, unnamed, unheralded comrades drift into and out of our lives momentarily, almost like ghosts, to put in a good word for us and launch us forward to the place and position we need to go. They might forget about us for two years, but at the last moment, or when the time is right, they swoop in to save the day, save our lives.
The Unnamed, II : Lot's Wife
January 22, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Genesis 19:12–29
So in this sermon series I want to pay tribute to some of the characters in the Bible who are important to the story, but never get a name. They are The Unnamed. They’re not Nameless; they all have a name, but we don’t know what it is. There are lots of them, scores, maybe hundreds. I want to talk about a few. “Scram!” says God. “Now!” says God. “Don’t even look back!” says God. But Lot’s wife can’t help herself. Mid-sprint, she looks back over her shoulder. First of all, the blitzkrieg is like a trainwreck—you can’t look away. You want to, but you can’t. More importantly, this wife and mother has lived there for 20 years. These are her friends and neighbors. They’re doomed. They’re gone. “Don’t look back!??” As if!!! Nevertheless, she is instantly ossified into a pillar of salt.
The Unnamed, I : Groundling, Mother, Snake
January 15, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Genesis 2, Genesis 3
So in this sermon series I want to pay tribute to some of the characters in the Bible who are important to the story, but never get a name. They are The Unnamed. They’re not Nameless; they all have a name, but we don’t know what it is. There are lots of them, scores, maybe hundreds. I want to talk about a few. In fact, the first three characters we meet in the Bible don’t have a name. We typically call the first man “Adam,” as if it were a proper name, but that’s not the case. The Bible calls the first man A-dahm, which comes from the Hebrew A-dah-mah, which means “earth,” or “ground.”
Fireside Chat with Tom Cole and Bill Evertsberg
January 9, 2023 • Thomas A. Cole, William A. Evertsberg
Monday, January 9 at *5 p.m. in the Culbertson Room and https://kuc.org/home/watch/ Bill Evertsberg and long-time Kenilworth Union Church member Tom Cole will engage in a “fireside chat” to discuss Tom’s book Collaborative Crisis Management: Prepare, Execute, Recover, Repeat. The book, written with co-author Paul Verbinnen (a leading crisis communications consultant), was published by the University of Chicago Press in September 2022. Reviewers have called their book “an invaluable resource”, “a master class” and “a classic”. Among the topics to be covered will be how adherence to Christian values help leaders of organizations prepare for and manage crises. *The odd time avoids the NCAA Football Championship at 6:30 p.m. and the Stephen Minister training at 7 p.m. We hope to see you there!
In the Meantime, VI: God Hates Loneliness
January 1, 2023 • William A. Evertsberg • Genesis 2:18–24
“Naming reflects values and character. Naming reflects hope for who we want this child or animal to be. Naming is often a way of honoring another. Anyone who has named an animal knows there is a process of value and love that goes with it.” —Nancy Lammers Gross
In The Meantime, V : Bringing Shiny Gifts to Dark Places
December 25, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • Matthew 2:1–12
Let me introduce myself. Some through the ages have thought us to be kings—for instance that song you sing, We Three Kings of Orient Are. Others have said that we were priests from Persia. But actually I was neither a king nor a priest. I am, or was, a scholar, an academician, a teacher. ...For us, you see, the planet Jupiter symbolized kingship, and the planet Saturn stood for the lands of Syria and Palestine, and these two portents appearing together in the constellation Leo, or the Lion of Judah, convinced my young colleagues that a Jewish king was to be born in the land of Palestine.
In The Meantime, IV : A Barn Shall Harbor Heaven
December 24, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • Luke 2:1–20
In a few moments, Alyssa and Ryan will sing “O Holy Night” for us with their inimitable, empyreal voices, including that line “long lay the world in sin and error pining, until he appeared, and the soul felt its worth.” That’s what I want to talk about this evening. I just want to tell you one story about that line: “long lay the world in sin and error pining, until he appeared, and the soul felt its worth.”
In the Meantime, II : Are You The One?
December 4, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • Matthew 3:1–12, Matthew 11:2–5
"There are two reasons why these texts are God’s timely word to us via the Common Lectionary this very morning. John the Baptist may have been the Doberman Pinscher of the Gospels, but the world needs its junkyard dogs, right? First of all, the world seems to have returned to the Age of the Herods. When the Berlin Wall fell more than 30 years ago and the Soviet Union collapsed, we thought that democracy had won. It would spread across the entire world like a virus, and despots would disappear. But now in important places of power around the world, there are potentates imposing their puny, pompous prerogatives on citizens who should be free and equal."
In the Meantime, I : The Already and The Not Yet
November 27, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • Matthew 24:3–44
This Advent at Kenilworth Union Church, Katie and I want to preach this sermon series called “In the Meantime.” But you see why the Common Lectionary wants us to think about this apocalyptic literature on the first Sunday of Advent every year. “Advent” is a Latin word which means “to come,” “to arrive.” And the Lectionary wants us to remember that Jesus is the one who came and will come again. He came long ago to that feeding trough in Bethlehem, and he will come again on clouds of glory as a thief in the night. Christians live between the two Advents.
Stewardship to the Third Power, II: Neighbor (Outreach Resources)
November 13, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • Isaiah 58:6–9
“Stewardship” means caring for the good things the Boss has entrusted to you. At work, we steward the Finances, or HR, or Marketing, or Operations, or Technology, or the Fleet. God entrusts every church member with three aspects of our common life together: the Annual Expenses of Running the Place, Caring for the Neighbor in Need, and the Campus. That’s Stewardship to the Third Power. If we are thrice generous, our impact will be exponential.
Stewardship to the Third Power, I: Family (Operating Resources)
October 30, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg • 1 Peter 4:7–11
“Stewardship” means caring for the good things the Boss has entrusted to you. At work, we steward the Finances, or HR, or Marketing, or Operations, or Technology, or the Fleet. God entrusts every church member with three aspects of our common life together: the Annual Expenses of Running the Place, Caring for the Neighbor in Need, and the Campus. That’s Stewardship to the Third Power. If we are thrice generous, our impact will be exponential.
Battalions of Controversies, II
October 3, 2022 • William A. Evertsberg
Paraphrasing Hamlet: “When controversies come, they come not single spies, but in battalions.” January 6. Uvalde. Highland Park. Dobbs v. Jackson. Gigantic Climate Bills. Parishioners have been seeking guidance from their Kenilworth Union pastors, so we’re going to sponsor four opportunities this fall to hear guidance from the Christian Church and to discuss varying perspectives on these issues with fellow members. Date Battalions of Controversies September 26, 2022 Abortion October 3, 2022 Christian Nationalism October 17, 2022 Guns October 24, 2022 Climate Change