04132022 – Betrayal Tonight is all about BETRAYAL. The air is thick with it. DISLOYALTY, BAD FAITH. TREACHERY. DECEPTION. DOUBLE-DEALING. DUPLICITY. It is the ICKY SIDE of life and existence. Betrayal HAPPENS. And it happens FROM those we LOVE and TRUST. And it happens TO THOSE we both love and trust. The actual translation of […]
04092022 – Palm/Passion Sunday At the cross of crucifixion, we see the Jesus, called ‘the Christ, the “Messiah,” the Anointed One of God,” he hangs between two thieves. It is something no one could have ever anticipated. A spectacle to be sure. Messiahs do not die as common thieves. And they do not hang from […]
04062022 – The Anointing at Bethany Just for the record: John has a version of the story that is similar to Mark’s. Remembering of course, that Mark was the first Gospel to be written…his is the original storyline. Everybody else follows Mark in some form or another. Both stories occur in the village of Bethany. […]
03022022 – John 12.1-8 William Shakespeare wrote the memorable line in Hamlet, “something is rotten or something “smells rotten” in Denmark,” I think more Biblically accurate – something is “pretty stinky in Bethany…” too! And it is coming from that “big house” right – over there…people have argued about “who’s house” it actually was. Such […]
03302022 – Luke 15. 1-32 Jesus understood the power of storytelling. That’s why he used parables SO OFTEN in his teaching. The stories themselves painted PICTURES in the mind’s eye. You could follow along in your head. There was an actual IMAGE… a “VISUAL,” if you will. So here WE ARE, in Luke’s gospel, and […]
03272022 – Luke 15 We’ve been traveling with Jesus for a few weeks now. On Ash Wednesday “he set his face toward Jerusalem” and said, “there is NO TURNING BACK.” He had invited us – to go WITH HIM to the Jerusalem and beyond. ALONG THE WAY we are stopping and listening […]
03262022 – Luke 15. 1-32 The story of the “prodigal son” in Luke 15 – is the “quintessential story” of reconciliation in the Early Christian Writings. It is the story of A FATHER that has TWO SONS. (I don’t know about you, but I immediately think of Adam, and of the Cain and Abel […]
0323B2022 – Luke 13. 1-9 Lent III We have before us tonight, “WORDS” that sound “an URGENT NOTE,” and “WORDS” that give “a LITTLE HOPE” that OUR GOD might just be a little patient…with us… Yay, God! How awesome is that… You gotta love this stuff… On the one hand, you never know when “THE […]
02232022 – Luke 6. 27-38 Jesus is teaching. He taught a lot. He was good at it and RESPECTED for it. It brought him HONOR and FAME among his followers. “Rabbouni,” people called him. The expression means “my beloved teacher.” Not just a teacher (a rabbi) but “a beloved teacher” – rabbouni. But this teaching […]
0320A2022 – Luke 13. 1-9 The young college student walking down Wisconsin Avenue, deep in thought about that paper that is due before Spring Break, is held up and severely beaten at gun point. The eight year old girl sitting in her living room is watching her favorite TV show. Mom is in the kitchen, […]