Here is an excerpt from a Pentecost sermon I preached a couple of years ago. You might also be interested in this Call to Worship and Benediction written for Pentecost. – – – – – – – At one point Jesus says to the gathered believers, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift…
My Sabbath prayer time this morning was spent sitting on my back deck in the glorious sunshine. I did a little sketching and a little journaling. Talking with God about some difficult parenting stuff. Most of the struggles right now are with our 16-year-old son who has been diagnosed with ADD and Aspergers. I won’t…
Yes. It is horrible that a man held three women and a child captive in his home for years. Yes. It is almost unbelievable that neighbors, police, and even the captor’s family members knew nothing about this for so long. Yes. These women and this child need our earnest prayers for the full healing of…
This story from Acts is a troubling one in many ways. Here are some reflections from a sermon I preached in 2010. (Full sermon is posted here.) – – – – – As far as we can tell, Paul does not free this slave girl out of kindness. He commands the spirit to leave the…
As I mentioned in my last post, “desiring” is my star word for this year. The yellow glittery star is taped up in my craft room: Desiring. And the word is swelling my heart in unexpected ways as my husband and I dream about a home in the country. We’ve talked about it for several…
On Epiphany, fellow pastor and blogger Marci Glass was giving out star words–words to hold and ponder and listen to in the coming year. My word is desiring. And it has woven its way through these past five months with glitters and shimmers and quavers and shouts and sighs too deep for words. The good…
Continuing with the virtues from 2 Peter 1, here is this week’s call to worship: God’s divine power has given us everything everything we need for life everything we need for godliness everything we need. We are called by God’s glory. We are called by God’s goodness. And we are here receive God’s promises. God’s…
At Peace, we continue to explore the virtues listed in 2 Peter 1:3-11. Yesterday, I preached on ύπομοήν (hoop-o-mo-nay)–enduance, patience, perseverance, fortitude . . . It gets translated a lot of different ways. I’m having trouble choosing an excerpt from the sermon, but you can find the whole thing here. I will simply leave you…
At Peace this week, we will continue to talk about the virtues listed in 2 Peter 1. We’re on endurance/perseverance/patience. Our opening scripture is Romans 5:1-5, and here’s the call to worship that the passage inspired. In the midst of our failures, We stand in God’s grace. In the midst of our struggles, We boast…
I’m disturbed by the “good guy/bad guy” rhetoric that is swirling around the gun control debates and the drone discussions and the Boston bombing investigation. It is dangerous when we buy into the lie that people can be grouped into these categories of “good” and “bad.” It is dangerous for our public policy, it is…
Spacious Faith 