11022022 – John 8. 31-36 For better or worse, we are still talking “Reformation Day” – but I do want you to know that a part of the church has moved on. November 1st is always, ALL SAINTS DAY! November 2nd is always ALL SOUL’S DAY! Meanwhile, we are still stuck on the reformation, I […]
10292022 – John 8. 31-36 There is a CONTEXT and a BACKGROUND to our Gospel reading. (Of course, there is!) It is THE CELEBRATION of “Tabernacles.” Also known as being, the “Festival of Booths.” Were you to be present in Israel it might be referred to as being “Sukkot” or “Sukkoth.” Sukkoth is one of […]
07032022 – John 14. 1-7, St. Thomas This is intentionally going to be a strange one! So please, bear with me: You are a FOURTH century Christian or later. You have heard about the work at Nicea. But you probably have no idea WHERE THAT ACTUALLY IS…or WHAT THEY did. It is “an ancient Greek […]
06152022 – John 12. In 1804, Thomas Jefferson had already drafted the Declaration of Independence, he had built Monticello, worked on the Louisanna Purchase, and was nearly halfway through his presidency, when he decided to take on his “one of his most ambitious projects of all” – Jefferson decided to take “a deeper look” at […]
06082022 – John 14. 8-17 Just so you know, I checked beforehand with Miss Kinga on this reference. You are going to fill in the blank. You’ve got this. I have faith in you. The year is 1965. The Album is “Out of our heads.” The group is the Rolling Stones. You guys, fill in […]
06042022 – John 14. 8 – 17 So, at long last, the Day of Pentecost has arrived. What was once “a Jewish HARVEST celebration” has now turned into the BIRTHDAY of the church. Happy Birthday, by-the-way! The season of Easter OFFICIALLY CONCLUDES today! 50 days ago, EXACTLY WE celebrated the Resurrection of Our Lord! After […]
06012022 – John 17. 20-26 It’s all about “the RELATIONSHIP,” I tell you. It NEEDS to be “MUTUAL.” It needs to be HEARTFELT. It’s kind of like a “covenant.” Especially in the Hebrew “biblical sense” of its meaning, it seems like everything is based on “the idea” of a COVENANT in the Hebrew Bible. A […]
05282022 – John 17. 20-26 (Memorial Day Weekend!) John’s gospel is “hard.” It is not “an easy” gospel to preach … In this Gospel, Jesus is praying to the Father. We “for our parts” are voyeurs. We see. We hear. We lean in, to catch his every word. We “try to listen carefully.” It […]
05212022 – John 14. 23-29 No one said coming out of a “world-wide pandemic” would be “a cakewalk” for anyone. There are still a lot of “unknowns” and a lot of “uncertainty.” The “1918 influenza pandemic” was “the most severe pandemic in recent history.” It was caused by an H1N1 virus with genes of “avian […]
05182022 – John 13. 31-35 I have not seen a movie in a theatre in – I do not know how long. I would be lying, if I said I did. But I do read, every day and with some additional luck, every night, as well. I do check out movie trailers online. I am […]