O6092021 – Always Be Kind Interesting Gospel text. This is because people thought they knew Jesus. They knew what made him tick. And they did not like it. It makes you think. Or, at least, it SHOULD! It is a truism, I think…but YOU have to be the one to decide. You […]
O6052021 – Mark 3. 20-35 This is “a literary style.” It has been called by various names. “BOOK ENDS” or “SANDWICHING” comes to mind. It begins with Jesus’ family coming to “RESTRAIN him.” But “that story” is interrupted by still ANOTHER STORY about some SCRIBES coming down from Jerusalem. And then, ultimately, we […]
06022021 – Holy Trinity Isaiah 6. 3 says, “And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” And the Book of Revelation, the 4th chapter, says… After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, […]
05292021 – Holy Trinity Nicodemus is a “cool Biblical figure.” The guy is likeable. He has everything going for him. He is a member of the Sanhedrin. The Council of Jewish elders. (At any one given time, there are only 70 or 72 of them.) Highly respected. Honored. Above reproach. Really a […]
05262021 – Pentecost Part III The Day of Pentecost had come. The Promise that Jesus had told his followers to prayerfully wait for – had finally arrived. Pentecost was one of the three Jewish festivals in which individuals WERE TO JOURNEY to Jerusalem and appear before the Lord at the temple with their gifts and […]
05232021 – Pentecost! This is not just any day! This day has been hailed as the Birthday of the early Church. Prior to this – the frightened disciples were in hiding. They feared for their very lives and existence. After the Day of Pentecost, they start to find their voices, they start to find […]
O5222021 – The Day of Pentecost (John 15.26-16.15) Only the Author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts writes OF a specific “day in the life” of “the Jerusalem community” when the spirit IS GIVEN. It is “our present belief” that those two books were written by the self-same individual. Traditionally […]
05192021 – John 11. 6-19 “Protect Them” Jesus prayed “protect them from the evil one.” Once upon a time there was a man who was AFRAID of everything. EVERYTHING! He decided that, in order to be really SAFE, he would purchase for himself a complete SUIT OF ARMOR. When he put on the armor, […]
05162021 – JOHN 17. 6-19 Last evening, I tried to keep it “lite” as the Season of Easter begins to wind down. But “my sense was” that people wanted a little bit more MEAT, so Saturday night received “a lite version” while you guys are receiving “a little more depth.” God only knows where we […]
05152021 – John 17. 6-19 Most preachers know the quote attributed to the famed theologian KARL BARTH: “We must hold the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other” – he is quoted as saying. We HAVE “an INHERENT NEED” to be “RELEVANT.” We need to be CURRENT. We need to […]