“Do You Want to be Made Well?”
Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church-UCC
John 5:1-9
May 26, 2019

 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’

– John 5:6ⁱ

The hardest pastoral visits I have made are to nursing homes. Many are fine facilities with caring and competent staff. Still, it’s hard. Residents in wheelchairs incessantly calling out for help. The smell of urine. Minds that quit long before the person’s body did. I mention this because today, Jesus has gone to Jerusalem’s nursing home where the mentally impaired, the lame and the diseased have gone perhaps because there was no where else to go. In all my visits to the infirmed, I never once asked the question Jesus puts to this man, “Do you want to be made well?” If I had asked it, the answer would have been “Yes.” But Jesus puts it to this poor soul, a man who had been coming to this renowned pool of healing water for thirty-eight years. Continue reading Sermon May 26, 2019 →

“God’s New Thing for You”
Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church-UCC
Revelation 21:1-6
May 19, 2019

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” – Revelation 21:5aⁱ

Where we are today is perhaps not where we want to be. The history we confront is filled with challenges and some have come to doubt humanity’s ability to overcome the problems set before it.

“A father and his eighteen your old daughter were talking one night in their home in Princeton, New Jersey. They had just watched the 11 o’clock news. Ralph Schoenstein, the father, reported the dialog with his daughter Lori in an article in the New York Times. ‘Don’t you think,’ Lori asked, ‘that this is the worst time there ever was?’

‘I don’t know,’ her father said, suddenly yearning for the days when Lori has asked why the sky was blue instead of why it was falling down. Continue reading Sermon May 19, 2019 →

“The Guiding Hand of God”
Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church-UCC
Psalm 23
May 12, 2019

He makes me lie down in green pastures
and leads me beside still waters.  – Psalm23:2ⁱ

It is my sincere hope that the words we just read this morning are a reflection of your relationship with God. Led to still waters, your wounds and scratches soothed, your fear laid to rest as you feast on what your enemies would deny you, never having to fear the valleys of deep darkness because you knew and know that God is with you. How I hope that the 23^rd Psalm reflects your faith.

But I lived in Chicago, outside Detroit, near Philadelphia and ouside of Boston. The rosy words of the 23^rd Psalm do not express the harried reality of the daily commute most urbanites face. Instead of still water, they hear, “God out’a my way. I’m driving here!” Continue reading Sermon May 12, 2019 →

“To See Anew”
Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church-UCC
Acts 9:1-20
May 5, 2019

 So Ananias went and entered the house. He laid his hands on Saul and said, ‘Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.’  And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and his sight was restored. – Acts 9:17 & 18ⁱ

Derek Black learned at a young age how to hate. Born into a white supremacist family he was taught that people of color were to be shunned, separated from a nation founded by and for whites. He was home schooled not only in the Three “R’s” but taught who God loved and who God rejected. He decided to run for public office and became gifted at spreading his message. He would not speak directly but roundabout in order to make an opening for his position. He commented on running for political office in Florida and how he would subtly win people over to his ideology. He writes about that effort and tells the reader what he used to say:

“‘Don’t you think all these Spanish signs on the highway are making everything worse? And don’t you think political correctness is just not letting you talk about things that are real?’ And getting people to agree on that would be the way forward.¹”

He was, like Saul, blind to love and the common humanity shared by us all.

But like Saul, his story does not end with blindness. Continue reading Sermon May 5, 2019 →

“Why the Wounds”
Rev. Jeffrey Long-Middleton
Bradford Congregational Church-UCC
John 20:19-31
April 28, 2019

After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. – John 20:20ⁱ

Jesus was dead. The room is locked. Jesus now comes and stands in front of them. Jesus, mind you. The text doesn’t speak about someone who appeared to be like Jesus. It doesn’t mention that Jesus, now resurrected, looked very different than He had prior to dying. No. The text says, “Jesus came and stood before them.” So here’s the question: Why is it only after Jesus shows them his hands and side do they rejoice when they saw Jesus. Continue reading Sermon April 28, 2019 →