Observing a Holy Lent

Lent 1C Did you notice anything different when you walked into church this morning? We have entered into a new church season, the season of Lent. Even if you didn’t know that, there are visual clues that might tell you something has changed, even before worship began....

The Call of the Valley

Epiphany Last C In the rural countryside of Burma, in a part of the country where no electric or telephone lines mar the landscape, is a mountain. Even today it is accessible only by foot, and climbing its well-worn paths is not an easy task. But people do climb it...

All You Need is Love

Epiphany 5C “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” When you heard that passage read a few moments ago, did you look around for the wedding couple? Just as the 23rd Psalm – “the Lord is my...

Blessings and Warnings

Epiphany 4C They looked just like any other couple. A slightly older man with a younger wife, carrying a new baby boy, about six weeks old. Just like hundreds of other faithful Jewish couples at the Temple in Jerusalem, following Jewish law by presenting their first...

Reading with Understanding

Epiphany 3C Those who are preaching this Sunday were given an embarrassment of riches from which to base a sermon. We have Jesus in his first recorded public teaching in Nazareth, giving what in essence is his inaugural address, setting forth his vision of the kingdom...

God Has a Dream

Epiphany 2C (MLK) The year 1963 was a tumultuous one in this country. Issues of civil rights dominated the news, beginning in January when George Wallace was sworn in as governor of Alabama declaring, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” That...

A Test of Compassion

Epiphany You may have noticed some changes when you walked into church this morning. The most obvious are the two stars on display – one in the back of the church hanging over the baptismal font, and the other on the beautiful banner hanging in front of the church....

This Good Earth

Christmas 2018 It is good to be gathered here with you on my favorite night of the year, the night that we celebrate the birth of a baby who will change the world. Everything about this evening is special – the music that our choirs and instrumentalists have practiced...

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