Luke 24:36b-48 Not long ago I saw first hand how forgiveness can make all the difference. The sort of forgiveness which is the very heart of Jesus’ sending words for the disciples and for all of us today. But first, pause with me in the story itself… For it is so that we find ourselves …
I Can’t Wait: Embracing the Easter Promise
John 20:1-18 I carried the Sacrament of Holy Communion to one of our own the other day. It is quite certain he will not walk through the doors of our church ever again in this lifetime — and certainly not this Easter. So I filled a communion kit with wafers and wine and enough small …
Time Itself Hinged on This Moment…
Exodus 12:1-14 1 Corinthians 11:23-36 “This month shall mark for you the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year for you…” (Exodus 12:2) So begins this section of Exodus where Moses and Aaron receive instructions they are to pass on to the their still captive people: Words about taking a …
Even Death on a Cross…
Philippians 2:5-11 I know these words by heart by now, which is why, I expect, I find myself pausing in them again once more this year. For it had been a busy week and I found myself alone on a quiet drive home late the other afternoon. I had forgotten to bring a copy of …
A Single Grain: Dying for the Sake of Life…
John 12:20-33 “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:23) “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25) I have …
This Powerful Grace
Ephesians 2:1-10 …and we were by nature children of wrath. But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved— … (Ephesians 2:3b-5) I have seen it …
The ‘Anger’ of Jesus: Cleansing the Temple
John 2:13-22 As I sit with the familiar scene before us now, it occurs to me that maybe my first instinct is to ‘over-humanize’ Jesus — that perhaps I am attributing too much of what I see in you and me to him. And yet, at least in my experience, this is precisely what many …
Picking Up Our Crosses: Dismantling Fear
Mark 8:31-38 I came home for supper this last Wednesday night. It was Ash Wednesday, and the day had already been full. I had preached at our noon service and so I figured I had a little more time before heading back for evening worship. The sermon was ‘tested’ already and would not need revision. …
This Time Apart: Entering Lent
Mark 1:9-15 I remember this well. A friend was pastor of a congregation which was then a new mission. As a result, their membership boasted all sorts of people who were relatively young in the faith — or at least that is why I was told they made this decision. “We don’t celebrate the season …
Passing on the Mantle
2 Kings 2:1-12 I am thinking a lot these days about what it is to have precious gifts passed along — perhaps not unlike what transpired between Elijah and Elisha in the vivid scene before us now. And yes, I expect I think about it now for I am aware that I am entering into …