Sermon online 2026-03-01 The End of Things For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. This sentence is for some the concise summation of Christian faith. It was the purpose of Jesus’ presence in the world. Without him, all would perish, but through…
A Christian Unitarian Church Serving Newton, Brookline, and the Boston Area since 1861
Sunday Service at 10:30am
Rev. Mark J.T. Caggiano
26 Suffolk Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
Sermons by Rev. Mark J.T. Caggiano
In the Book of Genesis, the first man and the first woman are offered paradise with one condition: that they not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And yet they are tempted to do so by the serpent. God cautioned that the man and woman would die if they ate from the tree, but the serpent explained that…
Isaiah 58:1-9a; Matthew 5:13-20 Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. This passage in Isaiah begins with a comparison. It is a contrast between true and false worship. To be focused on rituals and performing them correctly, even perfectly, as opposed to worshipping…
Sermon online 2026-02-01 “Beatitudes” by Rev. Dr. Mark Caggiano, 2/1/26 Micah 6:1-8, Matthew 5:1-12 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. The Beatitudes of Jesus are many things. They are a sermon offered to guide people listening…
Sermon 2026-01-25 Light in the darkness “Light in the Darkness,” by Rev. Dr. Mark Caggiano, 1/25/26 Isaiah 9:1-4; Matthew 4:12-23 [T]he people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned. In the Gospel of Matthew, the evangelist is quoting from our other reading from the Book…
“Knowing What to Do,” by Rev. Mark Caggiano, 1/11/26 Isaiah 60:1-6; Matthew 2:1-12 In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, magi from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star in the east, and have come to pay him homage.”;…
Sermon online 2026-01-4 In the Beginning “In the Beginning,” by Rev. Dr. Mark Caggiano, 1/4/26 Jeremiah 31:7-14; John 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. We hear a description of the Word. The Greek term is Logos, which can mean “word” or it can…
It is you who have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Jeremiah has been speaking out trying to save the people, but the leaders of Israel have not been listening. It was a time for the people to repent their…
…He wrote the famous German-American theologian Reinhold Neibuhr in 1939: I have come to the conclusion that I made a mistake in coming to America…I must live through this difficult period in our national history along with the people of Germany. I will have no right to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do…
This Sunday, I wanted to talk about a historical figure, a poet. A man you might have heard of but probably did not know much about. His name was Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī but he is more commonly known as simply Rumi, which means a man from the city of Rum (or Rome). This could mean a Roman, but in this case,…