Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1, 5b-6, 9-13; Luke 19:28-40 In our confirmation lessons this month, we are exploring the vows that these young folks will make on May 15. They will stand before this church and pledge to renounce the spiritual forces of wickedness, reject the evil powers of this world and repent of their sin.…
Lent
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Daily Bread
Text: John 6:30-35; James 2:15-17 During this season of Lent, we are taking time to dive deep and explore together the prayer that Jesus taught us. Already, we have thought about what it means to be in conversation and relationship with our Holy Parent. We spent last week thinking about what God desires and intends…
The Lord’s Prayer: Thy Kingdom Come
Text: Isaiah 2:2-5 “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” This short phrase is one of the most subversive and radical things that we can say as Christian people. And we say it every week. Too often, we rush over the words, practically tripping over them to get…
The Lord’s Prayer: Our Holy Father
Text: Luke 11:1-10 This year as we journey through Lent, we are being led by prayer. Well, one prayer in particular. The prayer that Jesus taught us. We teach it to our children. We recite it each week in worship. It is often a prayer that I will recite with families at the bedside of…
Again & Again, the Sun Rises
Text: Mark 16: 1-8 Three women made their way to a lonely tomb just after sunrise… Have you ever thought about a sunrise? Scientifically speaking, it happens every single day, at every single moment, somewhere across this globe. Our planet travels each year in an orbit that is 584 million miles in circumference, but every…
Again & Again, We Draw on Courage
Text: John 12:1-19 Over these past few years, our church has become a sacred space for a group of folks who once called Myanmar home. Their families came here to the United States seeking opportunity and possibility and escape from violence they found welcome not only in our city, but here in this building. This…
Again & Again, God Loves First
Text: John 3:14-21 One of my favorite books is “Hope for the Flowers.” It tells the story of a little caterpillar named Stripe who is looking for something… he just isn’t sure what it is. He just knows, deep within, that there is something more out there. One day, he comes across this mound… this…
Again & Again, God Shows the Way
Text: John 2:13-22 From the beginning of time, God has been trying to show us the way. The way to abundant life. The way to shalom. We catch a glimpse of how God wants us to live in the laws of Scripture, which Bible scholar, Walter Bruggemann describes as “God’s full intention for the life…