Mark 7:24-30 Here’s a story about great need and the power of learning, loving, and inclusion. Jesus seems to do the learning. Julia Esquivel’s poem “Lesson” seems to have it right: “What a lesson, teacher, what a lesson…” The Syrophoenician woman acts out of great need and love for her daughter. Jesus shows his true […]
James 1:17-27 Yes, we need to hear God’s word for us, but it’s never been about just hearing. Yes we are called to believe God’s word for us, but it’s always been about more than mere cognitive assent. We are called to “do,” to actually live the way of live we are taught. Caring for […]
1 Kings 8:1-66 (assorted verses…) Solomon builds the temple, places the Ark of the Covenant within it, and prays a prayer of dedication. Solomon’s prayer helps us to understand the call to Israel, and to us all, to look to our way, walk in God’s ways. Solomon’s prayer lifts up the reality of God’s steadfast […]
1 Kings 3:3-14 It’s one thing to know that there is good and that there is evil, but it’s an entirely different and better thing to be able to discern the difference! I think that perhaps those who first told the story in Genesis 3, about how the first people ate from the tree of […]
Ephesians 4:25-5:2 We are reminded, encouraged, and instructed to live in truth, in reconciliation, and in loving care for those in need. Verse 28 says that the reason we should work is so that we can have something to share with the needy! If that’s our “honest truth,” if that’s what we’re called to as […]
Ephesians 4:1-16 What does it mean to live a life worthy of the calling to which we have been called? It begins with believing the claims about who Christ is and who we are as members of the body of Christ. The first Christians believed that, in Christ, the world as they knew it had […]
Ephesians 3:14-21 The epistle writer prays for the letters recipients that they may be strengthened, filled with faith, rooted and grounded in love, AND that they might be able to comprehend the love of Christ. It must be some fantastic kind of love that’s so wide and long and high and deep that we might […]
MESSAGE: Is It Enough? Based upon Mark 6:30-44
Psalm 24 Look around you. Everything you see, smell, hear, feel, taste, experience, is a part of God’s creation. What might it mean to truly acknowledge and be grateful for our existence here on earth? What might it mean to celebrate God’s creative and loving power? Sometimes, I think, we forget the wonders of God’s […]
2 Corinthians 12:2-10 Paul shares with the church at Corinth all the ways he has experienced weakness in his life – all of the ways he wished he were stronger, better, more whole. He tells them that even after having appealed to God three times, even after having had an ecstatic vision, the response he […]