Text: John 1:1-14, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 First question I have for all of you… how many of you felt like last week’s discussion of quantum mechanics and elephants was a tiny bit over your head? That’s okay! Each week we are going to explore a different way of approaching the bible and a different part…
Bible 101: Quantum Mechanics, Elephants, and JEPD
Text: Selections (interwoven) from Mark 1, Matthew 3, Luke 3, John 1 on John the Baptist and the Baptism of Jesus In Western Christianity, we want to know the right answer. We have been conditioned, educated, by our schools, our philosophy, our churches, to look at facts and to believe there is only one truth.…
GC2019: Committee On Reference
This past weekend, I was part of the meeting of the Committee on Reference for the General Conference. Typically, our work focuses on assigning (or referring) petitions and legislation to various committees of the General Conference. But we were tasked with a new role in light of this special called General Conference. As Paragraph 14…
Bible 101: Unraveling the Mystery
Text: Ephesians 3:1-12 and Matthew 2:1-6 A group of astrologers looked up into the night sky and saw something that caught their eye. A new star had appeared. A king had been born. Preparations for a journey to the west, towards Jerusalem, began. Today, we find ourselves on the 12th day of Christmas, the Day…
The Redemption of Scrooge: Keeping Christmas Well
Text: Luke 2: 8-20 Over the four weeks of Advent, we have been exploring together in worship the story of Ebenezer Scrooge captured in A Christmas Carol. Scrooge is a bitter, lonely man whose “soul is as frigid as the bleak midwinter air.” The only friend he had was dead, and Scrooge might as well…
The Redemption of Scrooge: Facing the Yet to Come
Text: Romans 8:4b-17, Luke 4:18-19 There are a number of personality inventories out there, but one that has captured my imagination lately is the Enneagram. It describes people in one of nine categories, like the reformer, the achiever, the loyalist and the peacemaker (which is me). Every morning, I get a little sentence or two…
The Redemption of Scrooge: Bah Humbug!
Text: Isaiah 9:6-7, Luke 1:46-47, 52-55 One of my favorite Christmas movies every year is that timeless tale by Charles Dicken’s – a Christmas Carol. For those of you who haven’t seen it or visited the story for a while, it takes place on Christmas Even. Ebenezer Scrooge is a wealthy and stingy businessman who…
Mystery: Restored!
Text: Job 42:1-6, 10-17 This morning, I want to tell you a story about little Henry. Henry walked to school every morning with his grandpa. And along their way, Grandpa would stop at the neighborhood store for a newspaper and a cup of coffee. At the register, there were bins full of candies and gum…