Westminster Presbyterian Church, Alexandria Va

On this night, Christmas Eve, we gather with a sense of rapt, beautiful wonder. Shakespeare once wrote: “Such a deal of wonder is broken out within this hour, that ballad-maker’s cannot be able to express it”. In contrast to all other services in which the church gathers at night, on Christmas Eve, the sense of wonder is so pervasive that not even our most beautiful hymns and anthems, our gentlest harp, our most inviting voices can “express it.” Christmas Eve almost begs to be silent. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 2:13-20.

On this Sunday before Christmas, the Fourth Sunday of Advent, I want to do something I rarely do in a sermon: I want to bear witness as clearly and beautifully as I can as to why I believe in all we are doing in this service today: the words we say, the music we hear and sing, the prayers we lift spoken or silent. In other words, I want to say, as best as I am able, why I am a Christian and how I got to be one. I hope to do so in a way that is not so much about me, but becomes about you who have gathered and about the birth, life, and destiny of the Christ whose name draws us here. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on Luke 1:39-45.

Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.

Paul's encouragement to rejoice, his assurance of the nearness of God, his promise that we would obtain a peace that surpasses understanding - these are the words of the Bible that the church has been playing over and over again. If all we listen to are these "greatest hits," they might lose their power. Haven't we played that song enough? On the third Sunday of Advent, we light the candle for joy. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches on Philippians 4:4-9.

Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.

Advent is a time of hope & expectation. We celebrate the miraculous birth of a child whose life, death and resurrection is the anchor of the Christian message. How are we to understand this first century message today as we come to it with very different cultural mores and practices, ethical understanding, scientific knowledge, and philosophical and religious insights? Questions we’ll explore include how to square our current scientific outlook with the Biblical account, how to understand the nature of miracles, and how faith is to be understood in this Post-Truth era. With Dr. Jim Muyskens.

As we read Paul’s letters, we become aware that he knew – from personal experience – that not all human relationships can be mended, not all conflicts resolved, not all divisions healed, even those relationships that begin in a common faith. His words to the Thessalonians are written with this awareness of the human propensity for division, but also with a hope and a pathway toward something better. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on the first Sunday of Advent from 1 Thessalonians 3:6-13.

Paul began his letters to the early churches by saying, "grace and peace." The apocalyptic writer John used the same words to introduce his vision of a new heaven and a new earth. "Grace and peace" make for great beginnings and for great endings, too. Rev. Patrick Hunnicutt preaches from Revelation 1:4-8.

Is it part of the irony of God that something so historically and religiously significant as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam would come from a small desert region of the world and from a people whose origins barely registered in the annals of historians of their day? How little we know. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on Mark 13:32-37.

On this 100th anniversary of the armistice, the question I would like to address today – more as a minister than a citizen – is this: Is there a theological reason to remember every year, those who have put their lives on the line? Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches on this Remembrance Sunday from 1 Corinthians 1:18-25. This sermon was preached at the 8:30 a.m. service.

I conclude the series today by seeking to answer perhaps the most ambitious question of all – “Why Tithe?” I ask this of you because I believe that our faith is neither as rich nor complete until we are committed to returning to God a significant portion of the material goods which so mark and bless our lives. Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches from Genesis 14:17-20.

Hear firsthand who we are here at Westminster through the eyes, ears and hearts of your staff. Patty Chamberlain talks about Children’s Ministry and how she plans and thinks about bringing God’s word to the littlest among us.

Why give to the church – not only our time, but a considered, thoughtful percentage of our income as well? Why give our money – as well as our time – to the church? Rev. Dr. Larry Hayward preaches from Matthew 6:19-21.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.

We believe in some sense our faith can exist apart from the community created in its name, the church. While I do not want to deny that we can come to and even grow in faith apart from a congregational setting, I still want to offer three interrelated and ascending answers to the question: “Why join a church?” So here goes. Rev. Larry Hayward preaches on 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.

If you came to Westminster needing to hear how easy it is to be a follower of Jesus, then this passage in Mark is a reminder that following Jesus is, and always will be, a difficult decision. Or that following Jesus is surrendering to a life of difficult decisions every day. Rev. Whitney Fauntleroy preaches today from Mark 10:17-31.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.

On this World Communion Sunday in which we break bread and share wine with churches of different denominations across the world, what is it that Westminster particularly embodies that leads us to be a genuine part of the of the answer to the question “Why Church?” Why Church? Fall Sermon Series The series will lead up to our stewardship campaign, in which we each decide how much of our financial resources we will pledge to the work of Westminster in 2019, but it will not be limited to that focus. In some ways, the series will ask basic questions about why we are here, why we are involved in a church at all, and what role our involvement plays in our lives. In a time in which American religious life is changing, and in a church in which many of us may only be here for three or four years before being transferred to the next city, we all benefit from paying attention to fundamental questions this series will address.

The resurrection of Jesus from the dead meant that everything first disciples of Jesus had thought they understood was now to be re-thought in the light of God's surprising action. They experienced various kinds of change: individual and communal, mind and heart, circumstance and vision or point of view. Sometimes change brought struggle, even conflict; more often, it brought joy and a new appreciation of God's providential care for them. With with Dr. Katherine Grieb, Virginia Theological Seminary.