Resources on Carol Penner

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Carol Penner’s Easter sermon based on John 20:1-18 speaks of the confusion of Jesus’ followers in understanding his triumph over death. Christians look for and witness to resurrection and hope even in places of persecution.

John 20:1-18

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Death, Resurrection, Peace, Communism

Easter Hope

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Poetry

Based on Jesus' resurrection in Matthew 28:1-10, Carol Penner's poem reflects on our intimate relationship with death and darkness and Easter morning, when light and hope breaks in.

Matthew 28:1-10

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Darkness, Death, Easter, Hope

Pregnant Hope

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner's sermon on Isaiah 9:1-7 and Luke 1:26-38 reflects on the pregnant Mary, and how the physical act of pregnancy teaches us how to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Isaiah 9:1-7; Luke 1:26-38

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Advent, Hope, Mary, Pregnancy

Voices for Peace: People That Made a Difference

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner's sermon on 2 Chronicles 22:10-12 observes that "Jehoshabeath is a woman of courage, who defied her wicked mother to save a future king."

2 Chronicles 22:10-12

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Jehoshabeath, Courage, Athaliah, Shiphrah

A Child is Born

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Scripture Drama or Paraphrase

Carol Penner's dramatic reading features first-person statements by 10 biblical characters anticipating, or commenting on, the birth of Jesus. Each statement includes "For unto us a child is born!" (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Isaiah 9:6-7

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Mary, Abraham, (biblical Patriarch), Hagar, Jacob (biblical Patriarch)

Come to the Table

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Communion Liturgy or Prayer

Carol Penner offers liturgy for a communion service. "Come Holy Spirit, feed us with your love that we may be filled with power to love God with all our hearts and souls and minds."

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Love, Bread, Communion, Thanksgiving

A Shepherd Watches

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Drama or Paraphrase

Carol Penner offers an imaginative dramatic monologue by a shepherd, based on Luke 2:1-14.

Luke 2:1-14

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Bethlehem, Shepherd, Angels, Hope

Communion Service - With Thanksgiving

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Communion Liturgy or Prayer

Carol Penner offers a communion service with thanksgiving. "Send your Spirit upon us so that we know that all who eat and drink in this room and around the world are one body, one holy people."

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Thanksgiving, Communion, Lord’s Supper, Blessing

Praying for Fire and Brimstone

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon, Artwork

Carol Penner's sermon on Jonah 4 says, "We are so often tempted to hate our enemies, to wish the worst on them, to forget that they are loved by God too."

Jonah 4

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God's Love, Enemies, Blessing, God's Mercy

Living Water

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Prayer

Carol Penner's congregational prayer thanks God for water and uses other symbolic references to water, such as "thirst for righteousness and justice" and confession of "living parched lives."

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Water, Thirst, Beauty, Rain

Jesus in the Synagogue: Terror and Hardheartedness

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon, Poetry

Carol Penner's sermon imagines a film version of Jesus' healing of the man with a withered hand on the sabbath (Mark 3:1-6).

Psalm 143:3-8; Mark 3:1-6

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Obduracy (hardness), Fear, Synagogue, Healing

Judas the Friend of Jesus

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Poetry

Carol Penner's poem gives a sympathetic perspective on Jesus' disciple Judas. "It’s easy to hate Judas. But joined together in repentance we are friends forever with Judas through Jesus Christ our Lord."

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Money, John, Matthew, Judas

The Gate of Heaven

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner’s sermon on Genesis 28:10-17 recounts Jacob’s vision when he was in trouble, and proclaims that God is near even during COVID, as God was revealed to Julian of Norwich during the bubonic plague.

Genesis 28:10-17

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God's Love, Vision, God's Presence, Blessing

God of Gardens

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Offering Liturgy or Prayer

Carol Penner offers a congregational prayer praising and petitioning our "God of gardens," using language of gardening, growth, cultivating, and more.

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Compassion, Community, Gardens, Creation

Overthrown: God’s Power to Change

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner's sermon on Jonah 3 says that the repentance of Nineveh from Jonah's preaching gives hope for repentance and change, not only in individuals but at the organizational level.

Jonah 3

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Change, Hope, Repentance, Love

Mary on Easter Morning

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Poetry

Carol Penner's poem is a first-person account of Mary Magdalene's experience at the tomb of Jesus, based primarily on John's account of the resurrection (John 20).

John 20:1-18

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Resurrection, Joseph Of Arimathea, Tomb, Body

Our Bodies as Gift and Sacrifice

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner's sermon on Romans 12:1-13 reflects on how our bodies "are a gift from God...we are called to give our bodies as a gift, as a sacrifice, back to God."

Romans 12:1-13

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Incarnation, Body, Gift, Sacrifice

Voices This Christmas

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Scripture Drama or Paraphrase

Carol Penner's reader’s theatre, for four voices, imagines the events surrounding Jesus' nativity occurring in a modern context.

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Nativity, Glory, Servant, Light

Swearing Oaths: Taking Jesus’ Words to Heart

Carol Penner | Leading in Worship

Scripture Meditation or Sermon

Carol Penner's sermon on Exodus 22:10-11 and Matthew 5:33-37 says that "Jesus calls us to be truthful people. We do not need to swear...in order to be made to tell the truth."

Exodus 22:10-11; Matthew 5:33-37

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Truth, Oath, Swearing, Identity

Road to Emmaus

Carol Penner | Together in Worship

Call to Worship

Carol Penner offers a call to worship invoking Jesus' presence "in your risen power," based on Jesus' promise of presence (Matthew 18:20) and the disciples' walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).

Matthew 18:20; Luke 24:13-35

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Emmaus, God's Presence, Walking, Disciple