Feb 14, 2013 | Lent, scripture, sermon
“Run away!” “Run away to God,” the prophet Joel calls [2:12b-16]. “Leave what you are doing, and hurry toward God! Gather all of the people — bring your teachers and your infants, bring your siblings and the strangers among you,...
Dec 25, 2012 | Christmas, peace, sermon
“Peace on earth!” sings the angel choir. “Peace on earth, and glory to God!” But there has not been peace, not on earth, not for a long time. Peace is as distant as the stars while war and fear are familiar landscape. We are so accustomed to...
Nov 12, 2012 | faith, justice, sermon
Jesus points to a widow as she adds her two copper coins to the temple treasury (Mark 12:38-44). Perhaps she is an older woman, with the death of her husband occurring late in life. She may be a young widow raising small children. More to the point, the widow in Mark...
Nov 4, 2012 | discipleship, faith, healing, sermon
Many of us were taught to ask God for what we need for each day — that is, we learned to pray as the Lord’s Prayer instructs, “Give us this day our daily bread.” So we pray for daily bread, and for daily milk, and for daily eggs. We pray for...
Oct 5, 2012 | church, communion, healing, prayer, scripture, sermon
Before we read Mark 9:38-50, let’s reflect on this reading from James: “Are any among you suffering? You should pray. Are any cheerful? You should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? You should gather with the elders and pray over them. The...
Sep 27, 2012 | church, grace, ministry, sermon
I want to be great. I want to be great at everything I do, and I give myself a hard time for not being brilliantly excellent 100% of the time — as a pastor, a preacher, a mother, a writer. I long to be stellar … and not just to be stellar, but to be known...
