Text: Job 1:1, 2:1-10 Throughout this month of November, we are going to be exploring the mystery of God’s presence and power and how unbelievable difficult it is to wrap our minds around. Through the book of Job, we will let ourselves be taken through a range of human emotions: grief, anger, humility, and love.…
Ordinary Time
YES! We Are Able!
Text: Deuteronomy 8:11-18 and Mark 10:23-31 Last week, Pastor Lee from Women at the Well shared with us part of the story of the rich, young, ruler in Mark’s gospel. This morning, we hear the second half of that story… the response of the disciples… our response… to the invitation Jesus offers this faithful follower.…
YES! We Are Able to Care for Our Children
Text: Mark 9: 33-37, 42-43, 10:13-16 For twenty-seven years, faith communities across the United States have been observing the “Children’s Sabbath,” lifting a united voice of concern for the children in our midst. Marian Wright Edleman has been instrumental in this work throughout her life. She recalls in a letter of introduction to this year’s…
Untitled
Text: Mark 9:38-41 Sometimes the best thing a preacher can do is to be real and authentic. And so I’m going to confess that I’m really struggling with how to share this text with you this week. This fall, we are loosely following the lectionary – the three-year cycle of texts that help us to…
YES! We are Able to Claim Our Faith
63% of American households have pets. According to estimates from the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association that Americans own approximately 73 million dogs, 90 million cats, 139 million freshwater fish, 9 million saltwater fish, 16 million birds, 18 million small animals and 11 million reptiles. And as one pet therapist noted: “Love is the most…
YES!: Are Ye Able?
Text: Mark 10:35-45 This summer, we invited each of our households here at Immanuel to read a book together: Defying Gravity by Tom Berlin. Berlin invited us to try to break free from the gravity of this world, the culture of more, and the kingdom of self-centered ways in order to follow Jesus and find…
The Tie that Binds
Text: Colossians 3: 12-17 I want to start off our message this morning by thanking all of you for the gentleness, patience, and tolerance that you have shared with one another these past few weeks. As a community, we have been exploring the larger conversation taking place in our denomination about human sexuality. There are…
A Way Forward? Which Way?
Text: Acts 15 The book of the Acts of the Apostles is the story of how the good news of Jesus spread from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, to the ends of the earth. Along the way, the culture and traditions and scriptures of our spiritual ancestors encountered a variety of peoples and backgrounds. When…