Not Orphaned The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. “I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus promises us in today’s gospel. God is not some ruthless heavenly spectator judging us as on reality television, relishing our failures, wishing to exchange us for a better or…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. The words of today’s gospel are most often heard during a funeral service. It is a popular choice of scripture for that occasion because the words provide wonderful assurance that the one who has died in Christ has…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. An Abundant Life Abundant life is promised to those who follow Jesus. But what is meant by abundant life? Some Christians, and much of contemporary American culture, interpret an abundant life to mean the “good life” of many…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Welcomed with Open Arms Thomas is not the only one missing from the assembly the Sunday after Easter Sunday. We are not told why Thomas is missing, but we do know why plenty of other folks are absent…
What is it about the night that invites questions? As our head rests on the pillow and shadows stretch out on the bedroom wall, questions, like field mice, begin to emerge from the nooks and crannies of our mind. At first, the questions are utilitarian: Did someone let the dog out this evening? Are the…
The time after Epiphany is the church’s time to invite us to come and see who this one born in a manger will be, and to discover what this one born to a young woman might mean for us and for the world. Today’s gospel tells us that Jesus is the “Lamb of God who…
The doctrine of the Trinity invites us to consider how a God constituted by relationship—the Father with the Son, the Son with the Spirit, the Spirit with the Father—draws us into that relationship with God and one another. Gradually or suddenly, through the work of the Spirit, we come to know our belonging to the…
“What does this mean?” the devout ask (Acts 2:12). For those gathered in that house, the event meant the birth of sudden, surprising, unmerited new life. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they burst from the house with a story to share about God’s wonders. But what does this event of Pentecost mean for us, today, many…
Today’s gospel reading is first and foremost a prayer. It is Jesus’ prayer, and we are given the privilege of listening in as he prays on behalf of his disciples and people of all times and places. Listeners are given a glimpse of Jesus’ mission for the world—that all may be drawn into the life…
When we encounter Jesus, we are changed and will never be the same. Jesus can be revealed in a blinding light on the road, in an abundance of fish, in breakfast on the beach. God uses all sorts of surprising things—bread, wine, water, words of forgiveness—to convert us. Like baptism, this conversion is both a…