Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

“Here’s the thing that we know as Christians, that we are called to know and live by: We can sit in darkness. We can be people who dwell in the dark, knowing that Jesus Christ is light enough. In Advent, we make way for this light—we prepare for this light, we welcome it—and it gets closer and closer to us.” Today’s Scripture includes “Christmas and Easter: A Story,” an adaptation of the Gospel of Luke arranged by the Rev. Dennis Dewey; Romans 13:8–14 (NRSV); and the “Prophecy Catena,” an adaptation of Jeremiah 33, Luke 21, and Romans 13 arranged by the Rev. Casey FitzGerald. Our worship leaders today are the Rev. FitzGerald, Heather West, and Dave Aland. Cover Art: Those Who Walked In Darkness © Jan Richardson. janrichardson.com.

Presbyterians are part of a world-wide movement, commonly known as "Reformed," which traces its roots back to the Protestant Reformation. This series of four lectures by Dr. R. Bruce Douglass, Director of the Reformed Institute of Metropolitan Washington, is designed to provide a fresh interpretation of some of the key elements of that view. This Sunday, we look at Why the Bible? Why Only the Bible: The Reformation began with an insistence on the unique authority of the Bible in matters of faith. But what exactly does it mean in practice, and how is it affected by the way we interpret Scripture?

"When we remember, it is not simply a “remembrance of things past,” a supporting of veterans with better health care and home and education loans when they return, as important as these are. Remembering also involves to the best of our ability understanding what they faced, how much we owe our democratic freedoms to them, and vowing ever to protect those freedoms." Larry Hayward preaches on this Remembrance Sunday from Isaiah 65:17-25.

Dr. Muyskens, a WPC member, has written and taught on religion and medical ethics and was President of Queens College, the City University of New York, from 2002-2013. At this second session, we have a philosophical discussion looking at whether access to a basic minimum of care is a right—can a society be called just if many have no access?

Unlike some topics on which the Scriptures are silent, the Scriptures taken as a whole have something to say about politics, and can provide some perspective that might shed light for us as Christians and voters in the United States of America in 2016. In this Sunday before the general election, Larry Hayward preaches from 1 Samuel 12:1–25.

Dr. Muyskens, a WPC member, has written and taught on religion and medical ethics and was President of Queens College, the City University of New York, from 2002-2013. His first session will focus on how the American health care delivery systems works—or doesn’t. At the second, we’ll have a philosophical discussion looking at whether access to a basic minimum of care is a right—can a society be called just if many have no access? The third session will involve active audience participation, talking about how we navigate these seas of changes.

Today is Reformation Sunday, and this year we mark the 499th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, dating from when Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral. Using Marilynne Robinson’s essay “Reformation,” Dr. Larry Hayward explores the Reformers’ belief that every able human being had the right to access the scriptures, because God reveals wisdom to each individual person on earth. The scripture lesson is Luke 21:1-4.

Dr. Peter Stearns, Professor of History and Provost Emeritus at George Mason University, talks with us about fear. An obvious factor in contemporary life, how has American fear been changing since the 1970s? What is our response to excessive fear? Part 2 of 2.

The first thing we say about ourselves in worship each week is that we are sinners. This is a meaningful moment; a moment where we are honest with ourselves and before God and are yet are able to receive God's grace with joy and thanksgiving. How do we balance this understanding of ourselves as sinners with the knowledge of our divine origins in the image of God? Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Psalm 51:1-5, 10-12.

Dr. Peter Stearns, Professor of History and Provost Emeritus at George Mason University, talks with us about fear. An obvious factor in contemporary life, how has American fear been changing since the 1970s? What is our response to excessive fear? Part 1 of 2.

In several of Jesus’ parables, particularly in Luke, two central characters stand in clear contrast with one another: the Rich Man and Lazarus; The Pharisee and Publican; the Prodigal Son and the Elder Brother. In today’s parable, we encounter the Judge and the Widow. What might Jesus be saying to us through these two characters? Larry Hayward preaches today on Luke 18:1–8.

Some commentators praise the power of technology to help us organize and connect. Others say the Internet is decimating our attention spans and weakening our relationships in real life. This session offers theological grounding and practical wisdom as we navigate the joys and perils of this digital age—ever-changing yet here to stay. Rev. MaryAnn McKibben Dana is the author of Sabbath in the Suburbs: A Family’s Experiment with Holy Time (2012).

Today’s story reminds us that an essential aspect of being a Christian is having a special focus on people who are needy, people who are rejected, people who are on the margins of society and even on the margins of respectability. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 17:11-19.

Dr. Christina Puchalski, Executive Director of the George Washington University Institute for Spirituality and Health (GWish), is a pioneer and international leader in the movement to integrate spirituality into healthcare in both the clinical setting and in medical education. She continues to break new ground in the understanding and integration of spiritual care in a broad spectrum of healthcare environments. Today, she tells us about the importance of spirituality in healthcare, which can enhance patient coping, health outcomes, and health care decision making.

"I wrote this sermon title--How Did We Get Here?--after the explosion in New York, after the bags were found in New Jersey, after the mall in Minnesota…in coming across vitriol being spewed against my Muslim brothers and sisters…with the image of refugees and their children scrolling across my mind. I wrote this sermon title--How Did We Get Here?--thinking about all the ways language is being used to hurt…before I watched a video about a town in West Virginia, a forgotten place largely comprised of poor whites trying to find their voice in the conversation of the day. I wrote this sermon title before the violence of this particular week unfolded: before the stories of two more black men, this time in Tulsa and Charlotte, killed at the hands of law enforcement. How did we get here?" Casey FitzGerald preaches today from Luke 16:19-31.

A steward in crisis adopts a shrewd but dishonest plan to cheat his master. The steward receives praise from that master, and then Jesus holds the steward up as an example for Christians to follow. What can we make of this? What do we do when God reverses our sense of what is right and what is wrong? Larry Hayward preaches today from Luke 16:1-13.

In an engaging forum, Salih Sayilgan and Dodd Sims will present their work on Christian-Muslim engagement in a world of difference. Bringing Muslim and Christian perspectives into discussion, they will offer new insights for a more fruitful cooperation between the two faiths based on the modern Muslim theologian Said Nursi (d. 1960) and his work the Risale-i Nur. Dodd Sims, MD practices internal medicine in Alexandria. For more than twenty years he has worked with the immigrant community of Northern Virginia. He has a masters in theology from Wesley Seminary. Salih Sayilgan is a teaching fellow at the Catholic University of America where he teaches courses on Islam and World Religions.

Almost our entire cultural heritage expects us to search for and find personal happiness, meaning and purpose to our lives, and a spiritual identity or relationship with God. Jesus tells two parables describing a search: a shepherd looking for a sheep, and a woman looking for a lost coin. Who is the searcher in these stories? Who is the searcher in our lives? What do these parables tell us about finding? Larry Hayward preaches today from Luke 15:1-10.

From existential threats such as disease and nuclear war to the immediate physical challenges of food, energy, and potable water, being of citizen of the world today means grappling with vast change. General James Cartwright, USMC (Ret.), sets the stage for us on three great issues we are facing: technology, especially in communications and in the partnering of persons with machines; migration and demographic changes brought on by climate change; and governance, including the institutional and cultural biases that tend toward denial of change. How do we do the soul-searching necessary to adapt to these changes? How do we look beyond ourselves to embrace the changes that are coming? General James Cartwright served as the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 2007-2011. He is introduced by WPC member Michael Donley, who served as the 22nd Secretary of the United States Air Force. General Cartwright references the National Intelligence Council’s Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds

The book of Philemon is in many ways a book about change: the degree of change, the pace of change, the embracing of change that arises from deep within our Christian faith. In the nostalgia which some of us feel and the change which all of us face, what can this shortest of Biblical books teach us? Larry Hayward preaches today from Philemon.