Here is a call to Worship based on Micah 6:6-8 With what shall we come before our God? Shall we come with lots of money for the offering basket? Shall we bring our carefully scripted words? Shall we sing on-key in perfect four-part harmony? With what shall we come before our God? With minds set…
I think this story from Nehemiah 8 is absolutely amazing. You have a group of people, hundreds of people, all the people, gathering together not to listen to a concert or watch a show, but to hear the scriptures read. Ezra begins reading: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.” And…
I’m irritated that all of the temporary hair color says it will “cover the gray.” I’m proud of my gray hair. I’ve earned it. And as a diminutive female, gray hair can only help my pastoral gravitas. Still, I’d love to be a redhead for a month or so. Where is the hair color that…
There is so, so much in this Epiphany story. Good stuff. And hard stuff. Deep theological insights. Profound truths about the human condition. But this year it is the star that is pulling me in. And on one hand it feels like I should pay attention to some of the more earthly, serious aspects of…
How is the Divine related to the human? How does the omnipotent deal with the vulnerable? What is the relationship of the Creator with the the created? How does the infinite interact with the finite? The Gospel birth narratives—all three of them–give a startling answer. Here’s how John puts it: “The Word became flesh and…
I could list for you all of the wonderful things I want to accomplish this year, but let’s face it, I’d just be setting us all up for disappointment. So instead, I offer a list of all of the ways I plan to fail in the coming twelve months:
Here is a new year’s prayer that I wrote several years ago. I am sharing it again with you all and wishing you a year of faithfulness and joy. ~Joanna God of new life, God of life made new, We begin this new year as we ended the last– embraced by your spirit of love…
Are we accountable for our fear? This is a question that white people in particular need to consider. Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black boy, was shot to death on November 22, 2014. Yesterday a grand jury decided not to indict the white police officer who killed him. The primary reason given for the non-indictment is…
Based on John 1:1-5 and Genesis 1:1-4 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And light. And lights. And it was good. And it is good. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God. All things came to be through the Word. In the Word…
Emmanuel. God with us. Really. In the flesh. The incarnation means that in the most real and concrete way, God is connected to the physical reality of this planet. God has inhabited a human body with skin, hair, blood, bone. God has had dirt under fingernails, has drunk thirstily from the offered cup. God has…
Spacious Faith 