Text: Exodus 32:1-4, Matthew 4:8-9 Before we get started today, I want to invite you take just a minute of silent reflection. Somewhere, on your bulletin, I want you to write down the top five things that demand your time, attention, and responsibility. The top five things that you are called to focus on. Take…
Lent
The Wilderness: Trust and Manna
Text: Exodus 16:1-8, Matthew 4:2-4, Deuteronomy 8:1-8 This week, as we continue our journey in the wilderness, we come to the first of three temptation stories. Three trials. Three decision points. Three opportunities to be shaped by God. The first is about a basic necessity for life: food. Jesus has been fasting for forty days…
The Wilderness: Learning to Lean on the Lord
Text: Exodus 15:22-27, Luke 3:21-22, 4:1-2a, 4:14-15 This year, we are taking a journey through the wilderness during the season of Lent. Most years, we spend one Sunday, if that, focused on the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. However, the wilderness is not something to be glossed…
The Wilderness: Can These Bones Live?
Yesterday was my Sabbath day. I wore pajamas all day long. I curled up in a chair and played video games. I watched five episodes of Grey’s Anatomy on the DVR. I was a sloth. I was exhausted. I needed to stop moving, stop thinking, to simply be. But there is a fear that when…
The Beginning in the End
We spend so much of our lives looking for a savior. In the book of Judges, chapter 3 – the Israelites cry out for a savior when the going gets tough… and God responds by lifting up individuals who would save the people… Othniel and Ehud and Deborah. Over and over, the Psalmists cry out…
Under Dogs, Top Dogs, and the Kingdom of God
In 1887, a new term was coined in the English speaking world – the “underdog.” This was the opposite of the top dog –the dominant person in a situation or hierarchy, the winner, the victor in a fight or contest of wills. The term likely comes from the world of dog fighting, but soon the…
Who Is Included in We?
Everyone loves a hometown hero… The kid who excelled at sports or music or science and then went away to accomplish their dreams. When they return home, that child is often greeted with love and adoration as friends, family, and neighbors cheer on one of their own. This was the case when Jesus came back…
Breaking the Rules
As children, our understanding of right and wrong, good and bad, and the direction of our moral compass is shaped by our parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, older siblings, friends, and neighbors. Sometimes, they do this through gentle encouragement. Other times, it is by laying down strict boundaries. In other cases, it is the failure…