February 13, 2022
As I reflected on Jesus’ words this week, it was Queen that played in the background — Who wants to live forever? Who wants to live forever? Who dares to live forever…when love must die. Who wants to live forever? It’s a fair question actually. I know when I was young, I thought heaven… Read More »
January 30, 2022
Our gospel story this morning begins — Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— Jesus left Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria. But he had to… Read More »
January 16, 2022
We are walking through the gospel of John this year….and for John, Jesus is the light. He is the light of the world. That is how John describes him at the very beginning of his gospel. Jesus is the one through whom all things were made….the designer of all life…and In the midst of… Read More »
December 19, 2021
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. This is how it begins..how everything… Read More »
December 5, 2021
A little history. The kingdom of Babylon spent the better part of 20 years laying siege to Jerusalem. When they finally claimed victory, they took the leaders and elites of Israel captive back to Babylon so that Israel couldn’t easily rebuild into a strong nation that could pose a threat to them again. And they… Read More »
November 21, 2021
I don’t know about you…but sometimes these days seem pretty dark. And I’m not talking about the sun setting at 4:00. Sometimes…between the pandemic and the racism and the political animosity that is rampant….these days seem dark. And as more and more people battle mental health issues… trying to keep their head above water… Read More »
November 7, 2021
We have missed all the drama that led to this place in Elijah’s story. Ahab, king of Israel, had married Jezebel, a Phoenician…who had brought her own religious beliefs with her. She had grown up worshipping Baal…and so she instituted the prophets of Baal as the religious leaders of the kingdom…and Ahab went along, giving… Read More »
October 24, 2021
In order to talk about this story, I feel like we need a little background. Kind of like when they give a recap at the beginning of the show…saying “previously on Day of our Israeli Lives” So with that in mind…you might remember that a few weeks ago, we talked about how Moses led the… Read More »
October 10, 2021
It’s easy to want to mock the Israelites…. “Seriously? You’ve been miraculously freed from slavery and escaped the Egyptian army …and after just six weeks, you’re complaining and longing for the good old days as slaves?” But, if we’re honest, would we be any different? Slavery was awful…but it was familiar. They knew what… Read More »
September 26, 2021
You know how in old westerns….you always knew who the good guys were during the chase scenes on horseback because the good guys wore white hats and the bad guys wore black hats? Maybe some of you don’t remember those movies. Anyway, the directors did that just so it would be clear for us as… Read More »