17-Jan-21 John 9:1-41 I am slowly acclimating myself to the world of the computer. My wife tells me that it is relatively safe to ask the computer a question. Until just a few weeks ago, I used to ask her to look up stuff for me. It wasn’t that long ago that I asked her […]
For the Sake of You Gentiles
10-Jan-21 Ephesians 3:1-13 By the time that the Apostle Paul is writing to the folks in the church at Ephesus, he is already in prison, where he will eventually die. We consider the Apostle Paul to be a hero of the faith; a man to be emulated and admired. But in order to gain that […]
God is Faithful
03-Jan-21 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 God is faithful. God is always faithful. People, on the other hand, are not always faithful. Sometimes people are never faithful. People are, well, human. People sometimes have ideas and opinions that overrule what God has to say. And they will hold to those opinions and ideas as if God did […]
Setting the Past Behind Us
27-Dec-20 Galatians 4:1-11 It is no secret that the Apostle Paul, and the followers of Jesus in the churches of the province of Galatia did not get along. Oh, I suppose that they got along, but it was rather poorly, that they did so. At the beginning of chapter three, the apostle calls his his […]
Christmas Eve 2020
“And she gave birth to her first born son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in the Inn.” Those are some of the most familiar words in all of the Scriptures. They are simple, straight forward words, and the absolutely remarkable […]
Called into God’s Plan
20-Dec-20 Luke 1:26-38 Fourth Sunday In Advent In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel made an uninvited and unannounced visit to the young woman who would become the mother of the Messiah. He had a message for Mary that was shocking and completely out of the realm of her imagination. As soon […]
Coming Home With Joy
13-Dec-20 Psalm 126 Third Sunday In Advent 2020 has been a difficult year for every person in this world. Very little has gone according to plan. Our lives have been disrupted in countless ways. In normal situations, Christmas is a difficult time for many people. Struggling with the coronavirus is making this time of year […]
Beyond the Lesser Connections
06-Dec-20 Matthew 3:1-12 Second Sunday in Advent Given the opportunity, most of us would say that John the Baptist has about as much to do with Christmas as does Santa Claus. Or, maybe we’d give good old Santa a slight edge over John. They might both wear really strange clothes, but at least Santa’s are […]
Expecting the Unexpected
29-Nov-20 (1st Sunday in Advent) Matthew 24:36-44 Jesus is coming again. This is the sure and certain hope of all persons, who, for two milennia now, have served Jesus Christ as their savior. That he will one day return to this earth as the king of all creation is something that Jesus himself has promised […]
A Meal of Justice and Restoration
22-Nov-20 Ezekiel 34:11-16 Our Scripture passage for this morning is probably not your usual or expected Thanksgiving text. The psalm was nice, though, don’t you think? Next to the 23rd psalm, psalm 100 is very popular. It speaks of how good it is to be God’s sheep, how great it is to have God as […]