Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Every scripture reading today has depths to mine and relevance to our lives, but I’ve been excitedly waiting since August, when I sat down to make my seasonal sermon prep chart with notes for all…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Last week we had the first of three cycles in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus predicts his suffering and resurrection, the disciples misinterpret him, and then he offers a teaching on discipleship. Something to…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. This is the third of twelves weeks of walking chronologically through the Gospel of Mark in our lectionary cycle this fall. Today we hit the middle of Mark’s Gospel – a pivot point – where Jesus predicts…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. All week long the phrase “Be opened” from today’s Gospel has chased after me. It is ripe with meaning and possibility, censure and encouragement. And it is the culmination of the two healing stories found in…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Our Gospel today continues where we left off last week, but is a flashback to the story of Herod beheading John the Baptizer. The countryside was alive with speculation about who this wonderworker Jesus really was.…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Today is a day when it I have to say it’s too bad we can’t all read and understand Greek, the original language of the Gospel of John, because our English translation just doesn’t cut…
Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. Happy Pentecost! Theologian and scientist Teilhard de Chardin wrote that the harnessing of fire is what made human civilization possible. He went on to say that someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! Well, it’s still Easter. For some reason, I’ve found that the church does a really good job of setting aside Advent and Lent as seasons of “special intention” – but not Easter. Which is a shame, because while Advent has four Sundays,…
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia! The story of the apostle Thomas reaching out to touch the wounds of the risen Christ has inspired many gorgeous, haunting, and thoughtful paintings throughout history. It is such a vivid story, it is no wonder. But out of all of them, The Incredulity…