Author: Paul
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while we wait…
Biblical Texts: Malachi 3v1-4, Luke 3v1-6 Advent. A time of waiting. It is a time of the church year when we eagerly await the coming of Christ. The word comes from the Latin, meaning arrival, or coming. I love the church calendar, the liturgical year, because it takes us through the arc of God’s salvation…
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looking back, around, and forward
Biblical Texts: Psalm 23, John 15v9-17, Revelation 21v1-6 Remembrance Sunday is a tough service to deliver a talk. Here we are at the beginning of November, remembering those who died in war, and in just a few weeks we’ll enter Advent, where we often hear Jesus described as the Prince of Peace. It feels like…
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all the feelings
I don’t know where you stand politically, but I know for myself there are a whole mixture of emotions today. Anxiety, frustration, maybe a little foreboding. Having relatives and friends in the U.S., it’s hard to watch what is going on there and not be concerned. And what happens in the U.S. often has effects…
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a Christian hope
When we use the word “hope” today, most of the time we’re wishing something will or won’t happen. I hope I didn’t leave the oven on, I hope I feel better tomorrow, I hope it doesn’t rain this weekend. Or perhaps more seriously, I hope my kids are healthy, I hope I get that job,…
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sidelining sabbath?
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. On the first day, light, and on the second day the sky and the sea. On the third day came the earth and plants, and on the fourth day the sun, the moon, and the stars. On the fifth day fish in the sea and…
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a foundational prayer
Biblical Texts: Psalm 117, Luke 11v1-4 Today’s passage in Luke is so familiar it can easily go by unnoticed. For those of us in church regularly, we say this prayer so often it can become automatic. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s good to know things by heart, but sometimes it pays to slow…
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a harvest offering
Biblical Texts: 1 Timothy 6v6-10, Matthew 6v25-34 YouTube Link Our verses this morning might seem odd choices for a Harvest festival. First, there’s nothing from the Old Testament, where we can find plenty about harvest in general and food in particular. Second, there’s a lot about money. That’s not traditionally been a fun subject to…
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judicious judging
Texts: Exodus 18:13-26; Matthew 7:1-14 Moses chose able men from all Israel and appointed them as heads over the people, as officers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. And they judged the people at all times… Exodus 18v26 Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. For with the judgement you make you…
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wonderful news now
Luke 6:20-26; Matthew 5:1-12 Blessed are the poor! Blessed are those who mourn! Blessed are you when people slander you! Blessed, blessed, blessed! We hear this passage, and it’s twin in Matthew, all the time. But it’s not an easy one. We don’t use the word blessed very often, which doesn’t help, but when some…
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solitude for service
Reading: Luke 4v38-44 As with most readings in the churches lectionary, our gospel reading today is not meant to be read simply as one brief story. It’s from Luke’s gospel, and where Luke places it is important. It needs to be read in context. Chapter 4 of Luke begins with Jesus’s temptation in the wilderness,…