Repent and Believe
First Sunday of Lent Today's Reading: Mark 1:9-15 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. ‘Repent and believe! The kingdom of God has come near!’ Repent and believe the good news that God is present - God is with YOU - God has broken into our midst and, in Christ, has been let loose onto the world! Repent and believe! What does it mean to repent? Traditionally we may hear this word and only think of confession, of admitting
Love and Light
Transfiguration Sunday Today's Readings: 2 Cor. 4:3-7 ; Mark 9:2-8 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is Transfiguration Sunday and this story of Jesus’ glowing revelation on the mountaintop bookends the season of Epiphany. The story where we began Epiphany was the story of the magi who followed a great light to the Christ child; which is then followed by Jesus’ baptism. We began Epiphany with a great light, the
Rise and Serve
Final Sunday of Epiphany Today's Readings: 1 Cor. 9:16-23 ; Mark 1:29-39 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. In last week’s gospel, Jesus healed a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue using just his words. From the synagogue, Jesus and the disciples go to the home of Simon and Andrew, where Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law from a fever with just one simple touch. We may never even know her name, but she is foreve
The Words We Heed
4th Sunday after Epiphany Today's Readings: Deut. 18:15-20 ; Mark 1:21-28 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. There is power in the words we speak. And no words hold more power than those that come from God. We learn this first at creation, when God speaks all that exists into being. God SAID ‘let there be light’ and there was light. God SAID ‘let there be birds of the air and creatures of the land and sea’ and so there
Fishing for People
3rd Sunday of Epiphany Today's Readings: Jonah 3 ; Mark 1:14-20 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. For the past few weeks we have heard the call to discipleship throughout our scripture readings and this week is no different. Our first reading was an excerpt from Jonah, whom you may remember put up quite the fight before he actually made it to Nineveh. When God first called Jonah to warn Nineveh of their coming destruc
Peace on Earth
Today's Readings: 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (may need to read before and after if you want to really get the context of these verses); John 1:43-51 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen. In today's readings we hear the Lord calling out to humanity, in particular to Samuel, Philip and Nathanael. All three choose to follow God, not because they are perfect human beings, set apart from all the rest, but simply because their Creator beck
Baptized And Sent
Baptism of our Lord Today's Readings: Genesis 1:1-5 ; Mark 1:1-8 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen. In this morning’s first reading we were reminded of how God created all things. God spoke creation into being. At least three times in the last few weeks, we have read from John 1, where Jesus is equated with the Word: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John is making the connection tha
Grace Upon Grace
Christmas 2 Today's Readings: Jeremiah 31:7-14 ; John 1:1-18 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, & the Holy Spirit. Amen. People of God, you have been ransomed! YOU have been redeemed! God has come near, turning your mourning into joy and sorrow into gladness! Rejoice and be merry, for your life shall become like a watered garden and you shall never languish again (Jeremiah 31:7-14). The promises God made us (God’s people) have been fulfilled in
Love Has Come
Advent 4 – Love Today's Reading: Luke 1:26-45 (feel free to read the whole chapter!) Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Advent Wreath Liturgy: The Love of God-With-Us does not come as mere feeling, or sentimental fluff. Love cannot be imposed from on high. Love is our greatest commandment—tending tenderly to God, to other, and to self. The Love of God-With-Us is love in action, radical love practices: redistribution of re
Testify to the Light
Advent 3 – Joy Today's readings: Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11 ; John 1:6-8, 19-28 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today we light the third candle on our Advent wreaths - the candle of Joy: "The Joy of God-With-Us does not come as naïve optimism, or surface level feel-good-ness. Joy cannot be imposed from on high. Joy cannot be commanded. The Joy of God-With-Us is mingled with grief, exists side by side with mourning, knows tha
