May the words of my mouth and meditations of all our hearts and minds be acceptable to you, O Lord, our rock, and our Redeemer. Hosea’s story is wild: as a prophetic message to the nation of Israel, God instructs Hosea to marry a prostitute and bear children with her, knowing full well that this…
“Be Merciful Just as Your Father is Merciful” Readings: Genesis 45: 3-11, 15, Psalm 37: 1-12, 41-42, 1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50, Luke 6: 27-38 Jesus didn’t begin his public ministry until he was almost thirty years old. But it didn’t take long for his reputation to spread. He was an amazing preacher. As…
Readings: Isaiah 62:1-5; Psalm 36:5-10; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; John 2:1-11 My wife Anna has inherited a quirk from her mother and her grandmother. All three of these women are people who pray for parking spaces: “Lord, please give us a parking space.” Just like that as they’re driving through the parking lot. Anna’s grandmother, who’s…
Mark 10:17-31 We are never done with the stories of the Gospels. We don’t outgrow them. They’re not something to be mastered, completed: “Oh, I’ve heard that one.” “Oh, that one’s about this or that”. When we reduce the stories of the Gospels to themes and morals, we strip the Gospel of its power. The…
“Who Do You Say That I Am?” Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked them, “Who do people say that I am?” And they answered him, “John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.” He asked them, “But who…
Daylight & Dark Normally, my presentations are about hymns. However, as I prepared for this one I noticed a trend toward separating day and night in our hymns and prayers and lessons. So, we see in our hymnal that there is a section for MORNING starting with hymn No. 1, “Father we praise…
I will continue my tradition of talking about strong, independent Christian women in our history. Many of these women had a religious experience that changed their path in life. One of these women is Sojourner Truth. If you are like I was, I knew she was important in the movement for women’s rights and women’s…
Listening for the Voice of God The writers of the Old Testament included quite a few stories about a prophet named Samuel. One of those stories is our lectionary reading for today. The setting for this story is in a place called Shiloh. Long before Solomon built his famous temple in Jerusalem there were…
The Gospel According to Francis of Assisi This is the day when we remember Saint Francis of Assisi or the as he was known in his day, “the Little Poor Man.” He was in fact fairly short. Francis was born in the town of Assisi in the year 1181. Assisi is a small hill-top town…
Elizabeth Monroe Elizabeth Jane Kortright was born in New York City on June 30, 1768, which means it was British America at the time. Her father was a wealthy merchant who was also one of the founders of the New York Chamber of Commerce. He was also part owner in several privateers during…