Perhaps, nothing has a deeper tradition than what you eat where. Let’s try just a couple: On thanksgiving, we eat… On a campfire, we make After shoveling a snowy driveway, I want to drink…. This end of the summer series sets for us an example of how we use our favorite books, movies, art, and culture to see God’s very presence all…
As you walk the beach, it is hard to carry much: a pail, maybe the hand of another. But the beachcomber is most commonly seen up and down shore with little in their hands. Eyes focused on the sand or shoreline seeking treasure. Often there is a look that is a little out of focused, contemplative or meditative in nature. Beachcombing has…
At one of the first churches I served, a kind parishioner told me if I would only every preach that Jesus loved me and sit down, I would be complete. And I think that they were earnest. The challenge with that proposition is that you and I need for ourselves more application answers to the question, so what? If Jesus loves me,…
I have often said the two most common things a pastor fixes are toilets (I jiggle a lot of chains!) and a limited view of possibilities. Perhaps, it is the volume of people in a church or the way we act in a church, there is a high percentage of toilet talk and repair in church. We also find ourselves needing to…
Good Morning! I am Janice Bowers, a Christ Servant Minister here at West Grove United Methodist Church. Pastor Monica is on a well-deserved vacation this week with her family and I have been given the privilege to speak with you this morning. You have been listening to some of the music and highlights from our VBS week on the Rolling River Rampage.…
Prepare the way of the Lord! The prophets declare. During Advent, we are accustomed to hearing those words. Getting ready for what is coming next. Christ, incarnation of love, will be born. During Lent, we listen with earnestness. Easter is coming. The liturgical year circles through preparation and feast, fast and celebration. Our spiritual lives cycle on a larger scale as well. …
This morning, we continue in our series on the power of telling stories in parables and continue in the gospel of Mark. This year, we have been reading the gospel of Mark together. We have paired it with our year long verse: Be doers of the word, not just hearers, who deceive themselves, from James 1:22. Lest, you and I only nod…
Today, we begin a series of sermons on the narrative power of telling stories. Jesus told stories everywhere he went. He was a great story teller, stories about planting, lost sheep, and coins. Families and children gathered around Jesus to hear stories. They brought food and laid down their blankets to hear his teachings. Often, he would teach them in parables. Parable…
This Easter, I received spinach seeds ahead of the planting season, along with a geoplanter, gardening gloves, and the right tools. So, after I heard the frost warnings had passed us by (a bit harder this season), we diligently planted our small spinach seeds in our planter and have been faithfully watering them each day. We are getting ready to plant our…
God has always called God’s people to remember that they were strangers in a land they did not know. Sometimes we might feel like we know exactly where we are and, other times, what is going on around us. When the people of God were enslaved in Egypt, God reminded again and again to care for others and not mistreat those who…