A podcast resource providing audio of the most current lectures given at L'Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts (USA). For iTunes access, visit http://goo.gl/ZmJnOf
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Sermons by - Rev. Paul Sanderson from First Community Church of Southborough, MA
Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
If you would like to comment on this, or any of the sermons, please email Rev. Sanderson at: psandersonphd@gmail.com. Text (PDF) copies of the sermons are available on our web site: firstcommunitychurch.com.
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People - The Elder Son In The Parable Of The Prodigal Son
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This sermon, which focuses on the elder brother in Jesus' Parable of the Prodigal Son, looks at the parable from a Jungian psychological perspective. If you happen to be Freudian (or are so inclined for any other reason), you may stop listening now. If you happen to think, as I do, that Carl G. Jung just might help us understand the spiritual life …
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes This lecture explores two fundamental human desires: the longing to seek new experiences and the longing to come home. Drawing on examples from literature, we will explore the nature of these two longings and …
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I would like to continue the exploration we began last week of Jesus’ encounter with the unnamed Samaritan woman by the side of Jacob’s well. The woman’s life was radically changed through this encounter. Even though there is some teaching in the exchange, e.g., around the issue of sacred space, it seems to me that the most important part of what h…
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People Of The Bible - The Samaritan Woman At the Well
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This reflection, the third in my summer series sermons about little known people in the Bible, is about Jesus’ encounter with the unnamed Samaritan woman at the well. It raises the question of which is more important: what Jesus gives to us or what Jesus asks of us. It is about religious experience, specifically William James’s distinction between …
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This sermon is part of a series that Charley Eastman of Pilgrim Church and I have been preaching in our two churches this summer. It is about some of the little-known or lesser-known people in the Bible. Today we are taking a look at Jacob. I took the liberty of reading the story of Jacob and Esau from the Children's Bible--I highly recommend it! J…
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Human-Sized: (Re)visiting Francis Schaeffer's "No Little People"
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton In his sermon, "No Little People, No Little Places," Francis Schaeffer demonstrates how becoming infected with our culture's "syndrome of size" causes all kinds of problems for us regarding our identity an…
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Taylor Swift: Music, Mania & Monopoly
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking …
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The Power Of Prayer VI - Prayer From The Heart
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In our scripture lesson this morning from the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus’ disciples ask him to teach them to pray--just like John the Baptist taught his disciples. The disciples’ question implies that John taught his disciples to pray. I wonder what John taught his disciples. We don’t know; there is not enough information. I’m just curious: wo…
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Stones, Onions, & Odes: Inspiration for the Hard Work of Being Human Part 1
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Sarah Chestnut In this lecture, we will consider how remembering, creating and praising are central to our humanity, and how Christian spirituality has everything to do with the recovery of and growth in these human pra…
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Space, Place & Grace: Musings on the Meaning of Home
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Mary Frances Giles In our modern culture, we have a complicated relationship with the idea of "home." Our TVs are flooded with home makeover shows, and we spend billions of dollars a year buying real estate and home dec…
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Liturgy as Life: Four Frameworks for Our Gathered Worship
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Adam Kurihara Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, the ancient rule of Christian worship, can be loosely translated "the law of prayer is the law of belief." How doe our liturgies and practices (a "law of prayer") shape not only w…
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The Powerw Of Prayer V -- What Did You Expect?
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This morning, we are continuing our reflections on the power of prayer. I hope our reflections during this Easter season and beyond have begun to lead us into a deeper understanding of the meaning and power of prayer, have led us to believe more fully in the power of intercessory prayer, and will lead us to pray more constantly and more meaningfull…
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Christ Rules in Ten Thousand Places: A Free Church Account of the Church as Catholic
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ryan Fields Churches across the globe and through the centuries have taken up the language of the Nicene Creed in confessing the church as "one, holy, catholic, and apostolic." But this raises an important question: wha…
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The Power Of Prayer IV - The Hundreth Monkey
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Last week, in my sermon on the theology of the Trinity, I touched on one way of understanding intercessory prayer, prayers that I/we offer to someone in need. Today I would like to say a little more about this understanding and what it teaches about the importance of your prayer.By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without se…
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Today is Trinity Sunday. The sermon title is "The Trinity--God's Crazy Math!" In this reflection, we explore the richness of a trinitarial theology, how it might help us pray by deepening our understanding of God and also our relationship with God. It also points to a direction that we may need to go theologically and in our prayer--the evolution o…
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Understanding C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters, Part 3: Heaven's Big Secret
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes This lecture is the third and last in a series on C.S. Lewis's book The Screwtape Letters. We will trace one of Lewis's main themes in the letters: Screwtape's refusal to accept the possibility of self-giving …
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Today is the sixth Sunday of the Easter season. The fifty days between Easter and Pentecost is a special time in our church year. It is a time that we set aside to reflect on what happened to Jesus following his crucifixion. On Easter Sunday, we focus our attention on the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection, on the empty tomb, the cornerstone of our fai…
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Baptisim Is The Beginning Of The Spiritual Journey
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We had a baptism in our sanctuary this morning during the worship service. My reflection, which focuses on the way our sanctuary is set up architecturally and on the relationship of form and function, is a reminder that baptism is only the beginning of our spiritual. journey. I think you might find it at least informative. (At least I hope you will…
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Don't Try To Hold On (The Fourth Sunday of Easter)
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This reflection, the fourth Sunday of the Easter season, is entitled "Don't Try to Hold On." It could just as easily have been named, "Don't Touch Me," "Don't Cling to Me," or "Don't Hold Me," depending upon which translation of the passage in John you read. It is about the suffering that arises from our attachments, from our grasping, whether it i…
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Believing Helps Us See - The Second Sunday In Easter
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The liturgical season of Easter is one of my favorite times of the Christian year. It is a time when we read the gospel accounts of how the disciples encounter Jesus, encounter their risen Lord, or are encountered by him. Their experiences of rediscovering the One whom they felt they had lost can guide us in our own experiences of our risen Lord, c…
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In our observance of Holy Week, we move from Palm Sunday, a day of triumph, to Easter Sunday, another day of triumph, without passing through the dark night of the soul that is a central part of Holy Week. It is tempting to think we can have a resurrection without a crucifixion, without a sacrifice, without a death, either in Jesus’ life or in our …
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Today is Palm Sunday, a day of celebration! Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem marks the beginning of Holy Week, one of the most profound and deeply symbolic weeks in human history. Churches distribute palms to their communicants on this day, sometimes as palm branches, sometimes in other forms. This morning, We reflect on the symbolism of the p…
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This morning, the fifth Sunday in Lent, we are continuing our reflections on the power of prayer. I hope our reflections will lead us to a deeper understanding of the meaning and power of prayer, will lead us to believe more fully in the power of intercessory prayer, and will lead us to pray more constantly and more meaningfully in our daily life.…
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Birds of the Kingdom, Part 2: The Brains and Brawn of Migration
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes Bird migration is one of the the greatest marvels in God's creation. Every year, billions of birds take flight and travel from their wintering grounds to their breeding grounds and back, some flying thousands …
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The Book ofJob and the Wild Edge of Sorrow
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut Few books in the Bible are more disorienting and demanding than the book of Job. This lecture will consider what this collection of ancient Hebrew lament poetry has to offer those of us wanting to wrestl…
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The Book of Ezekiel: What is Going On?
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Dr. Donna Petter What is going on in the book of Ezekiel? Does the Old Testament speak about Trump, Putin, and UFOs? Some say that the book of Ezekiel does! But what is going on in this book? This lecture seeks to help …
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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This morning, on communion Sunday, we are belatedly beginning our Lenten series of reflections on the power of prayer. I hope our reflections over the next few weeks, and probably after Easter as well, will lead us to a deeper understanding of the meaning and power of prayer, will lead us to believe more fully in the power of intercessory prayer, a…
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Yes & Amen: Examining the Fabric of Faithfulness
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Esther Dalton If you know what FOMO, FOBO and "Allergic to Commitment" mean, you probably have a sense of or have experienced yourself the increasing anxiety in our culture around making decisions and commitments, from …
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Last week we thought about solitude, a theme to which we will be returning during our reflections on prayer, and the importance of touch, of breaking down or setting aside, or reaching past the boundaries that separate us from each other. This morning, let’s build on what we began last week by reflecting on community, on our community, and on the h…
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The Proverbs 31 Woman: Favored or Forsaken?
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Mary Frances Giles The "Proverbs 31 Woman" has long been held up as a model of virtue and character for Christian women, often appearing in Mother's Day sermons and women's retreat talks. But at times she has also been …
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For one more week, I would like us to remain with the theme that we began several weeks ago, the theme of healing as illustrated in the healing miracles that are described in the Bible. In previous weeks, we have attempted to discern what these healing miracles have in common (if, indeed, they have anything in common). We have attempted to identify…
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Healing The Syrophoenician Woman’s Daughter
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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No Professional Humans: Amateur Spirituality and the Way of Love
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Sarah Chestnut In this lecture, Sarah shares hr poem-prayer "A Liturgy of (Re)Dedication to the Way of the Amateur," recently published in Every Moment Holy Vol. III, and reflects on the questions and longings the praye…
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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Trusting the Lord in Shattered Expectations: Reflections of a Missionary to Ukraine
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Jeridan Dyck The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeki…
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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Understanding C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters Part 2: The Many Roads to Unreality
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seeking …
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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To Respect Onself as a Creature Part 2: Being in Process, Never "Arriving," and the Elusiveness of Closure
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Joshua Chestnut Many of us have difficulty valuing process. Realities like practice, slow growth,k and development are often (and understandably) unsatisfying in our culture of rapid download speeds and instant gratific…
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If you would like to comment on this, or any of the sermons, please email Rev. Sanderson at psandersonphd@gmail.com. Text (PDF) copies of the sermons are available on our web site: firstcommunitychurch.com.By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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Sermon delivered Nov 26,2023 If you would like to comment on this, or any of the sermons, please email Rev. Sanderson at psandersonphd@gmail.com. Text (PDF) copies of the sermons are available on our web site: firstcommunitychurch.com.By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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A lecture given for L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Phillip Johnston Since the rise of the MeToo movement in the mid-2010s, masculinity has reentered the cultural conversation with force. On the left, masculinity is often seen as a problem and rarely referenced without …
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Sermon presented Nov. 26, 2023 If you would like to comment on this, or any of the sermons, please email Rev. Sanderson at psandersonphd@gmail.com. Text (PDF) copies of the sermons are available on our web site: firstcommunitychurch.com.By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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We apologize for the delay in posting this sermon. We had technical problems with the original file and had to re-record it.By Rev. Dr. Paul Sanderson
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Ben Keyes The most moving and powerful art usually does not tell us exactly what to think. Many of the best paintings, songs, poems and short stories leave us with questions that linger in our minds. This does not neces…
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Tasting Goodness: The Integration between Subjectivity and Objectivity
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A lecture given at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. For more information, visit https://southboroughlabri.org/ by Josue Reichow The Copyright for all material on the podcast is held by L'Abri Fellowship. We ask that you respect this by not publishing the material in full or in part in any format or post it on a website without seek…
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