In this first Sunday of July, we begin our summer routine, our Summer of Stories. If you remember last year, we explored some of Jesus’ parables in the gospels. We were challenged by the layers of meaning and the different ways that each of us hears and understands these simple stories from Jesus’ ministry. This… Read More »
Walking Away from the Table – Mark 14:17-31
In the middle of May, my family and I drove out to Elkhart for a two-week seminary course in-person. It was called Biblical Storytelling, and the focus of our time together was renewing or refreshing our ears and eyes to the story that each book of our current Bible is trying to tell. Specifically, we… Read More »
Dedication and Formation – Deuteronomy 6:4-9
I became a parent less than 3 years ago. I think that I would call myself a young parent, a young father, no matter what my actual age is. I often tell my children that one day, they will have a better dad, especially when they are upset with me. I know that I don’t… Read More »
Stay Here – Luke 24:36-53 & Psalm 4
Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! This morning, we come to the end of our last resurrection narrative. We have journeyed with the gospel writers since Easter, wondering and puzzling over the significance and good news of Jesus’s resurrection. At the sound of our names, we hear, recognize, and worship the risen Jesus as… Read More »
I Am With You Always – Matthew 28 & Psalm 46
Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! On this third Sunday of Easter, we return to the empty tomb again. Two weeks ago on Easter Sunday, we read from John’s gospel as Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the beloved disciple all witnessed the empty tomb, but Mary was the first to recognize the risen Jesus when… Read More »
Resurrection – Mark 16 & Psalm 47
Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! Though our Lenten series has come to an end, the practice of seeking hopefully does not lose its place in your daily walk with Jesus. We stand in the hope, power, and mystery of resurrection because our text this morning in Mark 16 will challenge our commitment to… Read More »
Lent 7 – From Certainty to Openness – John 20:1-18 & Psalm 118
Our journey through the Lenten wilderness has come to its greatest moment. We followed Jesus to the table, to the garden, to the centers of power in Jerusalem, and finally to the cross. Unlike those who used and viewed the cross to intimidate, to persecute, to humiliate, to dominate, and to isolate, Jesus transforms the… Read More »
Lent 6 – From Power Over to Power With – Luke 22-23 & Psalm 31
Our traditional Palm Sunday text is all the way back in Luke 19. Jesus mocks the empire’s processional, which was when a great leader would come on a white horse with a legion of soldiers and battle weapons, signs of the leader’s power and status. However, Jesus rides a young donkey into Jerusalem to the… Read More »
Lent 5 – From Scarcity to Abundance – John 12:1-8 & Psalm 126
We have shifted this morning to the book of John. If you hadn’t realized, we have been studying Luke’s gospel since we started Lent. In our story this morning, the political stage has been set in chapter 11 just before this moment. The chief priest, Caiaphas, and the religious leaders of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish… Read More »
Lent 4 – From Exceptionalism to Inclusion – Luke 15:1-2; 11-32 & Psalm 32
We explored this familiar story last summer, and I asked you all to think of a title that reflected this parable’s peculiar content. Maybe your title was still the prodigal son, or maybe the parable of the foolishly generous father, or maybe the parable of the broken family, the lost son, or simply the two… Read More »
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