Posts by pwsadmin
Who Ever Loves Money Never Has Enough by Rev. John Cramton based on Luke 12:13-21 at Mount Vernon, Ohio, August 3, 2025.
It is indeed a joy and a privilege to be with you this morning. This is actually my seventh opportunity to preach from this pulpit over the last several years, and most recently we worshiped together just over a month ago. As I say each time, please know that I don’t take lightly the trust you place in…
Read MoreTwo Kinds of Prayer by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Luke 11:1-13 at Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 27, 2025.
Some of you are just getting to know me. I mention it quite often because it’s really a big part of who I am. I’m a PK. I’m a preacher’s kid. My dad, Jack Groat, was the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Marysville, Ohio for 34 years. One of the topics covered in…
Read MoreThe Power of Music by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Psalm 47 at Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 20, 2025.
Musicians and friends and leaders of Urban Strings, we’ve been looking forward to this morning for a long time. I am responsible for the content of this worship service, not the music, but I’m responsible for this. You see a lot of references to music in the service this morning. We’re doing this in celebration…
Read MoreGo and Do Likewise by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Luke 10:25-37 at Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 13, 2025.
This isn’t a part of my text, but it just occurred to me as I was listening to Kasie read. GOAT. You know what GOAT stands for? Greatest Of All Time. Somebody said to me, “Groat, you have to go spend a year on a deserted island. You get to take one passage of scripture…
Read MoreJoy Cometh in the Morning by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Psalm 30, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, July 6, 2025.
The Psalms may well have been collected and arranged in their present form as the hymn book of Israel sometime in the fourth or third century BCE. This is pretty astounding to me. I want it to be astounding to you. The Book of Psalms was arranged primarily as a hymn book, perhaps as far…
Read MoreJesus Calls Us to Follow – So What’s Your Path? by Rev. John Cramton, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Luke 9:51-62, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, June 29, 2025.
Let us pray together. Holy God, send your spirit to guide our time together this morning. May the words of my mind and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you, Almighty God, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Today we find ourselves in the start of what’s already a very warm summer, and we…
Read MoreWhere Is Your Faith? by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Luke 8:22-25, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, June 22, 2025.
I love this passage of Scripture. I’m deeply grateful for Luke to include it in his Gospel. He’s the only one who presents this story in this way. There are similar accounts in the other Gospels. It might even be the same story, but Luke is the only one that nuances it this way. I…
Read MorePresent and Favorable by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Matthew 5:13-16, at Mount Vernon, Ohio, June 15, 2025.
None of the lectionary passages really do fit Father’s Day, in my opinion, which is fine, so I went off-script and picked the passage you just heard, where Jesus says to his disciples, and says to us, “You are the salt of the earth. This is what you are. You are the light of the world.…
Read MoreOn the Road by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, June 1, 2025, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on Mark 10: 46-52
On the road. No, I’m not going to sing Willie Nelson. I’m never going to beat Willie. On the road. I love this story. Now I’m going to tell you why. There’s more than one reason. Let’s begin with that concept of road. The Greek word is “hodos,” it’s pronounced HO-dose. And it is a critically important part of the…
Read MoreYou Got This by Rev. Dr. Jay Marshall Groat, May 25, 2025, at Mount Vernon, Ohio based on John 5: 1-9.
In 1978, where were you? Please don’t answer this out loud. Where were you in 1978? I know a couple of you here this morning weren’t even close to being born yet. In 1978 the highest-grossing movie, I looked it up, was “Grease,” starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. “Grease” was great, I saw it. I was in college in 1978.…
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