Ironically, today’s gospel was Mark’s first recounting of a windstorm buffeting Jesus and the disciples. Jesus chose a moment when the time was right to go across the Sea – even though it was night and (as we found out later) a storm was ‘a coming. The disciples were so perplexed by the storm they […]
Samuel and Paul welcome us in our worship and scripture – Samuel was instrumental in helping change the direction of Israel in the time of change from the judges to the monarchy. While Paul served a reminder that our faith is what helps us navigate the changing landscape of life. The faith we have, as […]
Our scripture coupled Israel’s cry for a king in the days of Samuel, over God’s promise to be God forever, to Paul’s interaction with the Corinthian church as they were having a crisis of faith. It is worth remembering the crises Paul talked about all those years ago still apply today – many parts of […]
Our worship began the journey in the post-Pentecost time. Our readings today focused on the things that are “allowed” on the Sabbath (which is allowed, to do good or to harm?) and how the Sabbath was created for humans not the other way around. But we took a harder look at the Hebrew scripture and […]
As we closed our liturgical year today we heard stories of God’s direct interaction with humanity, as a shepherd gathering and guiding us through the wilds of our life. God doesn’t simply set us free without hope, rather God’s promise is to be with us forever – all we have to do is look, respond, […]
Today’s lectionary shared another of the parables that can remind us that, viewed through the human lens, God can appear to do crazy things; especially when dealing with humans. We heard the parable of the Talents and the rich person (landowner) that gives talents to his servants according to their ability. The landowner entrusted his […]
Worth reflecting that our lessons from worship. A key theme of the readings today was hope based on God’s providence, in good times and in challenges. We are called to remember that God’s timing is not human’s timing (thankfully). We also heard about being prepared and having hope, often knowing we are moving forward with […]
Our worship was informed by the story of Israel’s mediator – Moses as the people completed their wilderness journey. Moses and Israel had a confused relationship – Moses was loved and hated by Israel, Moses pushed back against God, and yet was identified as the best prophet who is without compare. Yet Moses’ story doesn’t […]
Jesus spoke to us through the story of the Temple tax and the question from the Pharisees and Herodians: is it legal to pay the tax to the emperor. Jesus affirms to those in his time that the life of the faithful is a balance of the obligation to God and the obligation to be […]
A recurring theme as we dove into worship and the readings for today. “Where are we supposed to be going from here?” An age old question and one that can be perplexing. We want to respond to the right invitation from God but have difficulty, at times, hearing the invitation clearly. How often are we […]