…and now the work begins April 8, 2018 Scripture: Acts 4:32-35, John 20:19-30 When speaking on this passage from John’s gospel, which tells of Jesus’ appearance to his disciples the evening of the resurrection the focus usually falls on Thomas, or ‘Doubting Thomas’ as he has come to be known. However, that little story […]
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…beyond belief…beyond hearsay Easter Sunday April 1, 2018 Scriptures: Based loosely but faithfully on John 20:1-18, and Luke 24:13-49 I am not sure it is possible to understand how catastrophic the events of the last several days had been for the believers now scattered across the city of Jerusalem. Everything seemed to have been
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…the ‘stone’ the builders rejected March 25, 2018 Scripture: Matthew 21:1-23, 42 Usually on Palm Sunday we focus on the absolute joy and wild abandon with which the crowds gathered and celebrated Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem. We note the wording of their acclamations, the calls for him to save them as the long-promised
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…no easy task, the broken woman March 18, 2018 Scripture: Jeremiah 31:31-34 Towards the middle of my last year in seminary I found I still needed a few credits in order to receive my degree at the end of the next semester. I knew my schedule for the spring semester was full and decided
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“For John 3:17 tells us in no uncertain terms that God did not send Jesus in order to condemn the world…but rather…in order that the world might be saved through him. God sent Jesus…to save us from ourselves, from our own worst impulses, from our tendency to divide rather than unify, from our penchant to seek only to save ourselves rather than to do the harder work of loving one another…”
The Pastor’s Pen – March 11, 2018 Read More »
… the love of our God is far, far greater than our ability to discourage or lessen it…and the forgiveness and mercy God extends towards each one of us comes from the very nature of this God of love…and also, and perhaps quite importantly so, the wrathful and condemning images and understandings so many ascribe to our God are a distortion of and rebuke of the true loving essence of this one we worship and seek to follow after.
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However it is a choice each one of us is asked to make at some point…a choice to seek to gain the world at the cost of truly living…or to seek to live…no matter the cost of truly loving…
The Pastor’s Pen – February 25, 2018 Read More »
Be patient and persistent for God’s blessing… February 11, 2018 Scriptures: 2 Kings 2:1-12, Mark 9:2-9 Have you ever had a moment when you wish you could just put time on hold? When you so wanted to preserve that moment, to hold on to it forever? A moment when everything seemed perfectly aligned and you
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…when I was a stranger February 18, 2018 Scripture: portions of Matthew 25 That scripture from Matthew 25 which recounts the events in Jesus’ life just prior to his betrayal by Judas and subsequent arrest is one that speaks loudly and clearly of the ways in which our Lord Jesus intends that we conduct our
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…is your way ever truly hidden from the Lord? February 4, 2018 Scripture: Isaiah 40:21-31,Psalm 147:1-3, 6, 10-11 Who is it…in whom I believe? Who is this one who reaches out to me in the quiet of a dark night? Who is this one whose insistent attempts to comfort or reassure reach deeper into
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