Our worship was filled with stories that point to our call as believers and how we are supposed to act and share the impact of our mutual relationship with God, from God to us and our return to God. We are given authority to share our understanding of our relationship, what scripture has to say […]
Our scripture led us on a journey of listening for God’s call and responding to the call. We saw our typical human responses – immediate response; skipping our response because it didn’t feel right; and finally responding after being called many times. We thought about how hard it can be to hear God in the […]
In worship today we heard stories of listening as it impacts our faith. Samuel (meaning God has heard) listens to Eli’s counsel to invite God to speak to him (Samuel). We realized that Eli was effective in leading Samuel, almost in spite of his waning faith and awareness of God. Jesus also listened to Nathanael […]
Good afternoon friends and welcome to 2018 in the midst of the first snow of the year. I hope you have been safe and warm as the Arctic weather has blown through Southside Virginia. The conditions were dicey enough that we felt it more prudent to cancel worship and be safe. The roads were okay […]
As we bring a close to our Epiphany journey we see one of the biggest Epiphany moments in the New Testament – the Transfiguration. The story is told through the eyes of Matthew and the writer of the second letter from Peter – both reiterating the message of God is found in the relationships we […]
Today we heard three “vamps” on the phrase “be holy as I, the Lord, am holy…” (or perfect instead of holy). We wonder what it means to be holy, especially in a world where holiness isn’t always embraced. Our gospel today, a portion at the close of the Sermon on the Mount, is troubling and […]
In worship today we realized it was the 6th Sunday after the Epiphany and that the journey has become a bit “old hat” at times. We’ve heard about the Epiphany about Jesus as savior and God incarnate. As we began our sermon we took a poll: which denomination do you claim as your founding denomination? […]
Our worship was filled with stories and songs of saltiness, being visible light not hidden under a bushel, and returning to God in relationship. Jesus reminded his society that his purpose was not to abolish the “law” (whatever that was) but to fulfill God’s law. The law we have been given was highlighted last week: […]
source of dissonance in our lives. Jesus offered the Beatitudes: Blessed are… and a few items that don’t appear to be appealing in our conventional perspective. More difficult on some levels but more engaging on others is the lesson from Micah, which distills to: the good in life comes from doing (being) just, loving kindness […]
This morning in worship we continued the enlightening journey we’ve had this Epiphany season (pun intended). In the past weeks we’ve heard about Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist (why would Jesus be baptized – he had nothing to repent of); and last week we explored the question of “what are you looking for” and […]