Preacher. Poet. Painting the world purple.
*This sermon originally preached at Sunrise Church on Sullivan's Island, SC on December 29, 2019.* Hebrews 2:10-18 This is kind of a weird Sunday. It, along with the Sunday after Easter, is often jokingly referred to as Associate Pastor Sunday. Attendance is typically lower, many people are traveling, sometimes even the pastors. It’s also a... Continue Reading →
(*Originally preached at the New Dawn service of Sunrise Church on Sullivan's Island on November 10, 2019.*) Luke 20:27-38 Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, ‘Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry... Continue Reading →
*This sermon was originally preached at Sunnyvale Presbyterian Church in Sunnyvale, CA on May 12, 2019* Acts 9:36-43 When I first read this passage a little over a month ago, it left me with a question: What does it mean that Peter is given the power to resurrect? What does it mean for us? There... Continue Reading →
(A sermon on Mark 14:31-15:15) "Jesus’ doubt and fear and trembling in the garden matter. They are, believe it or not, good news. Because it means that it is okay that we doubt and fear and tremble too. It’s okay that we question."
(A sermon on Matthew 14:22-33) "Y’all sometimes. Sometimes trying to follow Jesus feels like walking on water, and sometimes it feels like sinking."
(On Mark 8:27-38) "It isn’t easy, not in this messy world of ours. But it is simple. Jesus gets down in the hole with us."
(On Luke 13:1-9) "We weren’t made to stand idle with arms out stretched and wait for our branches to bear fruit. No. We were created to be gardeners."
(On 1 Samuel 3:1-10) "One of the best lessons my queerness has taught me is that the full expansiveness of love is beyond the capacity of any one person to imagine or know. And that love, that limitless love is what, and how, and who God is."
(On Acts 1:1-11) “When the thing that defines your world disappears, how do you find your way out of your old story and into a new one?”
(On John 6:1-13) "When was the last time you heard a story of everyone getting “as much as they wanted?” In our world today, usually if someone is getting as much as they want — it’s at the expense of others getting what they need. Scarcity is our human paradigm. And in the face of it – Jesus offers radical abundance. Of food yes, but also of generosity, of love, of hope."
Rev. Layton E. Williams 