Three of the four gospels each includes a version of this morning’s Scripture lesson. When the Holy Spirit moves not one, not two, but three Gospel authors – Matthew, Mark and Luke – to add the exact-same scene to their narratives, that’s a reliable sign that the Spirit is putting divine emphasis on a particularContinue reading “Skin in the Game”
Tag Archives: repentance
Lost and Found: The Parable of the Lost Sheep
Herding sheep is a never-ending task. As soon as one lost sheep is found, another wanders off. Or so I’m told – and perhaps you have experienced: Our lives follow a similar ebb and flow of aimless meandering and blessed rescue. One minute you’re feeling like the world’s your oyster and you’ve found your way,Continue reading “Lost and Found: The Parable of the Lost Sheep”
Bitter-Sweet
Complaining, grumbling, and doubting are among the human emotions fueling the plot of our Advent Scripture lessons from the Old Testament book of Exodus, the epic story of the Lord God freeing his people from slavery in Egypt. Their journey to freedom through the Red Sea has been grueling, demanding, and exhausting, and folks areContinue reading “Bitter-Sweet”
Trusting God with Our National Sin
As go the lyrics, the songs we love to sing have freedom’s theme. Hence we red-blooded, God-blessed Americans love to croon of freedom and liberty, with words both sacred and secular, when national holidays afford opportunities to “let music swell the breeze and ring from all the trees.” But candidly I’m having a harder andContinue reading “Trusting God with Our National Sin”
You Don’t Know Jack
Thanks to the likes of Mother Goose, everyone knows the nursery rhyme by heart: Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water.Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after. But wait, there’s more! Up Jack got and home did trot as fast as he could caper;AndContinue reading “You Don’t Know Jack”
By the Lord’s Arithmetic
It’s the kind of banner headline that catches my attention and stops me cold: “How to Save a Sad, Lonely, Angry and Mean Society.” It tops a compelling essay by the conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks. Long one of my favorites, he well argues that consuming culture bathes the human mind with emotionalContinue reading “By the Lord’s Arithmetic”
A Spiritual Health Check-up
If you, like me, attended public school between 1966 and 2012, then you likely remember sweating, grunting, and groaning through the Presidential Physical Fitness Test — A grueling, gym-class ordeal that demanded sit-ups, pull-ups, a long-distance run, and several other selected feats of pubescent strength and agility. For the athletically inclined it was a chanceContinue reading “A Spiritual Health Check-up”
The Covenant: An Invitation into Lent
The 40-day season of Lent – a time of prayer, reflection, fasting, and repentance – leads up to Easter’s celebration of Jesus’s resurrection. According to the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent 40 days fasting in the desert wilderness before beginning his public ministry. During his wilderness time, Jesus endured and fought offContinue reading “The Covenant: An Invitation into Lent”
No Other Gods before Me
Over the years, I’ve preached sermon series on any number of themes, but for no reason in particular, the one topic I haven’t touched in depth is the Ten Commandments. So, for the next 10-or-so weeks, we’re going to be unpacking that list of do’s and don’ts – given by God to Moses, aContinue reading “No Other Gods before Me”
At Our Best
Some of the Bible’s most intriguing and inspiring stories describe events or phenomena that are exceptional and unprecedented. In those-remarkable-but-rare instances, God’s Holy Spirit in Christ is uniquely present, and like a match set to a pack of firecrackers, the Spirit sparks a chain reaction of explosions that inspire awe and wonder. This morning’s ScriptureContinue reading “At Our Best”