Readings – Jeremiah 17: 5-10; Psalm 1; I Corinthians 15: 12-20; Luke 6: 17-26 Jesus was a community gatherer. Remember when his mother and sisters and brothers wanted to speak with him while he was teaching?  He motioned to the gathered people and said, “these are my sisters and brothers”.  His loving embrace reached the…

Readings – Isaiah 6: 1-13; Psalm 138; I Corinthians 15: 1-11; Luke 5: 1-11 The theme to be found in all four of our readings this morning is God inviting, God, looking for partners, to join in the continuing care of creation.  I think seeking partners is a “God thing” – going back to Genesis…

Readings – Jeremiah 1: 4-10; Psalm 71: 1-6; I Corinthians 13: 1-13; Luke 4: 21-30 Last Sunday we heard the beginning of this story.  Jesus, following his baptism, went into the wilderness to ponder how to live God’s declaration that he was the long-awaited Beloved of God who would: bring good news to the poor,…

Readings – Nehemiah 8: 1-3, 5-6, 8-10; Psalm 19; I Corinthians 12: 12-31a; Luke 4: 14-21 Today let’s begin with Jesus, always a good place to start.  Just prior to our reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke, God claimed him.  God declared, “You are my Son, you are my beloved”.  Blown away by…

Readings – Isaiah 43: 1-7; Psalm 29; Acts 8: 14-17; Luke 3: 1-17, 21-22 We are still decorated for the Nativity, for the birth of Jesus.  Last week we celebrated the revealing of the Christ-child to the world as the Wise Men from afar arrived for a brief visit.  And today we jump, scholars tell…

Readings – Isaiah 9: 2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2: 11-14; Luke 2: 1-20 A reading from the Gospel according to St. Luke —  …on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but…

Readings – Micah 5: 2-5a; Psalm 80: 1-7; Hebrews 10: 5-10; Luke 1: 39-45 Creating Space.  In soccer and in football, too, a player runs through space on the field, hoping one or two of the opposing defenders follow.  Then, into the space runs another attacking player, ready to receive a neatly kicked ball (in…

Readings – Zephaniah 3: 14-20; First Song of Isaiah; Philippians 4: 4-7; Luke 3: 7-18 I can remember my mother’s ringer washing machine.  In the center of the machine, there was a post with fins that went around and around, and up and down when the tub was filled with water and dirty clothes.  The…

Readings – Malachi 3: 1-4; Song of Zechariah; Philippians 1; 3-11; Luke 3: 1-6 From our Old Testament reading of the prophet Malachi, he spoke of God refining us like gold and silver, making us purer as God intended us to be like God created us to be. From the Song of Zechariah, a priest…

Readings – Jeremiah 33: 14-16; Psalm 25: 1-9; I Thessalonians 3: 9-13; Luke 21: 25-36 This morning let’s begin with the context of the reading from Jeremiah, the Old Testament prophet.  Since ancient times we have had two arrangements of the proclamations and the laments of Jeremiah.  One set was arranged by his disciples in…