In worship today we heard Jacob’s story of working to earn Rachel’s hand in marriage, only to be fooled by his uncle Laban. Jesus offers stories of what the kingdom of heaven is like – 6 of them to be precise; often because not everyone resonated with the different stories. We continue our search for […]
As we gather for worship today we heard stories of Jacob (rightly) running for his life and God meeting him with a promise of providence. We were also reminded that God knows everything about us (and still wants to be in a relationship with us) and that God will let us be until the harvest-time […]
In worship today we heard many familiar stories, some of which can be misunderstood. Not because the stories are poorly related, rather because what we’ve been told about the lessons may not actually be what is the message. We heard Paul talk about there being no condemnation for those in Christ, condemnation may come from […]
Our lessons and worship focused on two aspects of God’s story – although we could have reflected on the life and ministry of Rebekah and Isaac. We heard Paul tell the Romans that his toil alone isn’t the thing that brings about goodness – but God’s law and connection with us; and that connection brings […]
In worship we heard stories of real life: Jesus promising that there would be trials, the we should go out trusting that God would provide our need as we share the good news – the kingdom of God has come near, and God’s response to our disbelief. We heard Sarah laugh when God said she […]
In worship we celebrated the Trinity Sunday – a day where we are invited to contemplate the nature of God: three-in-one and one-in-three. On the one hand I “violated” my promise to not mention big theological terms in my sermons I shared three today: perichoresis, hypostatic union, and filioque. I didn’t define them but used […]
As we bring the Easter season to a close we listened to God’s and Jesus’ prayer for humanity and believers: that we will experience God’s glory and be united in God. As we reflect on the call from God we might wonder how to be united – especially given our (necessary) diversity. Jesus gives us […]
In worship, the tone of the readings showed much of the “other side” of the Christian story: persecution, being placed on trial, having to make a defense (with reverence and gentleness), and the need for an advocate (Paraclete). Yet we heard the truth, that God continues to walk with us and guide us when we […]
Our worship and scripture was a picture painted by psalmist, Luke, Peter, and John that describes what makes believers special. They all spoke about the trust we have been given about God’s faithfulness through everything and how that impacts our lives right now. We head them all tell about the identity we have in Christ […]
In worship, our scripture continued the discussion about the founding of the church and how our our practice of worship, fellowship, teaching, and communion helps us share the peace and serenity of Jesus. Today the image from the gospel was not the “standard” – we heard about Jesus as the gate: the one who marks […]