.Mark 4:26-34 This is a great lesson for those of us who are living in farm country at this time of year, for the image Jesus offers now is coming alive all around us. Now I have to say that I’m not much of a gardener myself, but friends everywhere are putting their energy into the …
Re-Defining Family
Mark 3:20-35 It goes without saying that family is a powerful force…. Today, to be sure, but also in the time of Jesus. I know that for me, my earliest memories and my most influential forces involve family. For instance, I can recall sitting on the basement floor of our house on South 3rd …
It’s No Wonder Nicodemus Wondered…
John 3:1-17 A couple of days back I stopped at the cemetery. Fifteen years after he died we finally got around to getting a Veteran’s marker for my dad’s grave. Perhaps you know what I’m talking about — the kind you simply push into the ground that holds a flag. I stopped by as I …
The Baghdad Breeze and the Power of the Holy Spirit
Acts 2:1-21 There are so many images in this week’s Pentecost account that I find my imagination running in a couple of different directions. One is to dwell in the power and wonder of the Holy Spirit as portrayed for us in wind and flame. The other is to ponder the miracle of differences overcome …
Oneness
John 17:6-19 “Holy Father, protect them in your name so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11) The unity Jesus speaks of here is all too rare it seems to me. I’m tempted to say that’s a rather recent phenomenon, but I know better. Whether it’s in the church or in …
Of Supermoons and Loving One Another
John 15:9-17 As I write, I’m told we had a ‘supermoon’ this week-end. My understanding is that a ‘supermoon’ occurs when in its full moon stage, the moon passes as close to the earth as it possibly can, making it appear to be significantly larger than it usually does. It’s always the same size of …
The Vine and Core Strength
John 15:1-8 A few days ago in my exercise class we were asked to do mountain climbers at the same time we did planks while bracing our forearms on the stability ball. I expect even if you have no idea of what I’m talking about you can guess it wasn’t easy. For you see, my ‘core strength’, …
Of Sheep and Shepherds
Psalm 23 John 10:11-18 I don’t know much of sheep and shepherds, it’s true. A long time ago when I preached on a Good Shepherd Sunday, I confessed this truth. As he shook his hands with me after worship that morning, John Spangler offered to educate me. John was a hard man of few words and to …
You Are Witnesses…
Luke 24:36-49 It’s just a couple of times that I have been called as a witness. Both times were in family court. Once was on a Christmas Eve long ago when I was asked to stand before a judge and describe the erratic behavior of the woman whose future was in question. Thankfully he stopped …
Scars and Stories, Doubt and Faith
John 20:19-31 I can still remember the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when the trailer lurched forward and caught my dad’s hand between it and the hitch on the back of the family station wagon. I was twelve, maybe thirteen years old. That would have made my sisters eleven, ten and nine. …