A Sermon Delivered on December 14, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. On this third Sunday of Advent, the lectionary places us squarely in the middle of Matthew’s gospel, far away from shepherds, angel choruses, and that silent Bethlehem night. And frankly, it feels a little jarring. Where are Mary and Joseph? Where’s the manger? Where’s the warm glow that starts moving us toward Christmas?

A Sermon Delivered on December 7, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. Matthew 3:1-11 3.1 In those days John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, 2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: …

A Sermon Delivered on November 30, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. Business guru Stephen Covey tells us in his book, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, to begin with the end in mind. In other words, to best plan where you want to go, picture what it looks like if you were to succeed and plan your next steps accordingly.

A Sermon Delivered on November 23, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. This morning, I am building my thoughts around creating sacred pauses in a noisy season. To help me do that, we are going to be looking at scriptural poetry. Poetry is all about rhythm and rhyme, cadences of words, and pauses. Today we are going to look at those pauses and those pauses in poetry have a name: it’s called a caesura.

A Sermon Delivered on November 23, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. Luke 21:5–19 5Some people were talking about the Temple, saying how wonderfully it was decorated, with its beautiful stones and dedicated gifts. "Yes," said Jesus; 6"but the days will come when everything you see will be torn down. Not one stone will be left standing on another."

Lord of the Seasons, you who place the planets in their places, causes our tides to rise and fall, and food to flourish to feed us, we gather this morning and thank you.As the temperatures turn colder, we are mindful of warm places to sleep, hot food to eat, and adequate clothing to stay warm. Spirit, make us mindful and diligent in addressing the causes in our nation that prevent that for all people.

An illustration for “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” (Sora) A Sermon Delivered on November 9, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley It was a hard day at the office, and I had come home and crashed in the first chair that greeted me when I walked in the door. I just wanted to enter my cave, be alone, and turn everything off for a while.

A Sermon Delivered on November 2, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. Our text this morning comes from the Hebrew scriptures and is from the prophet Daniel. There’s some debate when it was written. Some believe it was written as late of 530 BCE but others place it earlier in the mid-second century.[1] As a prophet, Daniel’s job was to be a truth-teller to those Jews who were still held captive by King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon as well as a future-teller of events that would come to pass in the years to come.

The Apostle Paul by the Dutch painter, Jan the Elder Lievens A Sermon Delivered on October 19, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. How many of you have a will? A will is a legal document that specifies how you want your assets and estate to be distributed after you die. But did you know there is also such a thing as an “ethical will”?

A Sermon Delivered on October 12, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley Leviticus 13:45-46 45 The person who has the leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, “Unclean, unclean.” 46 He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean.

A Sermon Delivered by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on Sunday, October 5, 2025. This morning is World Communion Sunday. It began back in 1933 when the Rev. Dr. Hugh Kerr of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh wanted to have a day where the walls of division come down between denominations and we come gather around that which we all agree.

A Sermon Delivered on September 28, 2025, by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. The first thing I have to say about this morning’s lectionary reading is that to hear it, it sounds as though it does not make any sense. Turn with me to Jeremiah 32:1–3, 6–15. As you find it, let me set the scene. Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet” because most of his words were hard to hear; he was full of warnings of God’s judgment and lamented over the people’s unfaithfulness.

A Sermon Delivered on September 7, 2025 by The Rev. Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min. Both of today’s biblical readings deal with making choices. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses reminds the Hebrews that life with God requires a conscious decision. He declares, “Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.”

A sermon delivered on August 31, 2025 by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min. Here’s a riddle: What’s the one thing you can strive for, but once you have it, you immediately lose it? Humility. So, let me ask you: Are you a humble person? Be careful now; you better think before you answer! Now, hold that thought, and let’s turn to our text.

A Sermon Delivered on August 24, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley By the end of last Wednesday, I was unable to give Patty a sermon title as it had not come to me yet. Well, it eventually did and so today I am building my thoughts upon these three words: Reclaiming the Sabbath. Turn with me to Luke 13:10–17.

A Sermon Delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on August 17, 2025. There is a sense of urgency building in Luke’s gospel. Last week, you remember, Jesus reminds us God’s love for us is as a Shepherd caring for its lambs and tells us not to be afraid. Luke then records Jesus telling parables about the imminent inbreaking of God’s Kingdom.

A Sermon Delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on Sunday, August 10, 2025. Luke 12:32-40 32“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.

A Sermon Delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on August 3, 2025. Turn in your Bibles to Luke 12:13–21. Today, Jesus is out teaching crowds of people. Someone interrupts him from within the crowd to ask him to settle a family dispute over an inheritance. Jesus refuses to step into the middle of someone else’s family disagreement but he does not let a good teachable moment slip by.

A Sermon Delivered on July 27, 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley. This morning, we’re looking at Luke 11:1–13, a passage that comes right after last week’s story of Mary and Martha where Mary chooses to sit at Jesus’ feet, soaking up his teaching while Martha fretted about in the kitchen. Today, we find Jesus in prayer. Prayer is a big deal in Luke’s Gospel, and he uses it like a thread running through his entire story.

A sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on July 20, 2025. The lectionary this week gives us two very different types of scripture. On one hand, we have the well-known story of Mary and Martha hosting Jesus in their home—a gentle, intimate portrait of discipleship. On the other hand, we hear from Amos, a blunt, unsettling voice from the south sent to call out the sins of the northern nation of Israel.

A painting by John August Swanson. See A Sermon Delivered by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley on July 13, 2025. This morning, we are continuing in Luke chapter ten. Last week, we learned about setting our alarms for 10:02 each day as a reminder to pray for laborers to go into the harvest, inspired by Luke 10:2. Today, we pick up with the disciples returning from their journey, full of joy and stories of healing and hope.

A sermon delivered by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min. on July 6, 2025. Last week, we looked at the cost of following Jesus when he asks us to fall in line behind him and follow where he asks us to go. We noted that when we choose to align our lives with Jesus’s Way, it requires more than a tacit nodding of one’s mental approval for doing so; it requires us to count the costs of doing so, it demands we reset our priorities in our daily living, and once we step out, we can’t look back.