This Wednesday, many gathered for Ash Wednesday to begin this season of Lent. With 59 in worship between the noon and 7pm services, I was moved. Moved by the ashen mark of God’s love of foreheads. Moved by familiar faces and neighbor faces we are learning. Moved by those who brought their confessions to the cross to be shredded and then embrace…
Open. Grow. Serve.
Sermons on Matthew (Page 8)
I have become quite fond of a television/ book character by the name of a Father Brown. He is an unassuming Roman Catholic priest in the 1950s from a small British town who loves the people of his parish and has a healthy dose of suspicion when it comes to solving crime. In a Post-World War II world, he is not a…
Have you ever gone on a road trip? On this long weekend, in the middle of winter, with hints of 60-degree weather, a road trip sound nice right about now. A change of scenery, a switch from the routine, a bit of adventure. For my first big road trip, my dad laid out road atlases across the kitchen table and marked our…
When it starts, it often feels like an instinct or a growing sense of wondering. For the Magi, it was a star that caught their eye and ignited their studies. Regular night time studies of following the star. Each of them dropped everything and followed it! They travelled far across dunes with determination and grit. Not knowing exactly where they would end…
Imagine my surprise: I began my renewal leave in the middle of October by spending eight days in Ontario, Canada in silent retreat. When I returned, I was surprised to find out major construction was underway just off Guernsey Road, just down from the church. On my short commute, I am now often slowed down and treated to a view of construction…
Prophecy sometimes gets a bad rap like the proverbial boy who cried wolf. Or, if you prefer, like the ominous warning Winter is Coming from Game of Thrones. Being the lone voice who is calling the community to hear them can be lonely and long, draining and daunting. And yet, this is the work of the prophet. Look and listen. We hear…
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,…
Paul traveled on an unexpected life journey, going above and beyond. He never expected to be called to be doing all he did. At one time, he was out to get Christians and made a living and purpose in having them persecuted and then God intervened and his purpose changed. It is written that no…
For the wise ones, it began with a hunch. The Magi had been studying the stars and surveying the skies and working the astrology and waiting for what was coming. Their preparation came ahead of the great story. Epiphany, the season of brilliant manifestation and aha! and revelation came first with showing up in ordinary…
Father: Resolute and God-Trusting There is a legend about the life an Elizabeth of Hungary from the 13th century. I was reading this story to my children this week. The story goes like this. This royal princess in her own right marries another royal at the tender age of 14. While she had grown up…