May 17, 2020 John 14:15-21 Acts 17:22-28 “If you love me you will keep my commandments,” says Jesus. And, he seems to indicate that it’s in keeping these commandments that we’ll perceive the Advocate, or “Friend,” as Eugene Peterson translates it, or Holy Spirit of God, which is Christ’s ongoing presence. All we have […]
May 10, 2020 Acts 7:55-60 John 14:1-14 For the last two weeks the lectionary has assigned readings that are generally considered to be staple passages for funeral services. Of course, last week it was the 23rd Pslam: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green […]
May 3, 2020 Psalm 23 John 10:1-10 Whenever the 23rd Psalm comes around in the lectionary I think of Jack. Jack was the husband of the senior pastor I worked under during my first pastoral charge after seminary. He used to call me up and invite me to lunch. The first time he did […]
April 26, 2020 Luke 24:13-35 Mary Luti is one of the writers for the UCC’s daily devotional that gets emailed out. I always love it when her name pops up in my inbox because she never fails to inspire, or inform, or offer a perspective that leaves me a little better off than I […]
April 19, 2020 John 20:19-31 Acts 2:14a, 22-32 I thought that to begin things we might just reflect a little on the gospel of John itself. First of all, it was likely written over 1,900 years ago. That means that 80 or so generations have passed John’s testimonies about Jesus to one another as […]
April 12, 2020 Col. 3:1-4 Matthew 28:1-10 Easter Sunday I’ve been finding that Mondays and Tuesdays are the hardest days for me. Sundays are great! On Sundays I’ve been finding such energy and joy in seeing you all, worshiping with you all, finding inspiration and hope from some new angle on God’s love together. […]
April 5, 2020 Mathew 21:1-11 Matthew 27:27-37 For the first week of this pandemic our theme for worship was healing prayer. Though the theme was in place before the pandemic caused all the closures, it seemed all the more appropriate to offer prayers for healing when we realized that being physically together was not […]
If you missed our first online worship, or just want to re-experience it, you can view a recording here!
Feb. 23, 2020 Matthew 17:1-9 Arius was a 4th century priest and theologian most known today in association with the great heresy of Arianism, which we are most apt to hear as a denial of the divinity of Jesus. Interestingly, not too long ago I heard a preacher talking to his church about Arius […]
Feb. 2, 2020 1 Cor. 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 A nun from the Buddhist monastery that the Confirmation class and I are going to sent me an intro to Buddhism video the other day. As I was watching I was reminded that at the very core of Buddhism – the central problem that Buddhism seeks […]