Texts: First Reading 1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20) Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 Second Reading 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Gospel John 1:43-51 Manuscript: This is another week that has been hard to write. We have heard threats of more domestic attacks, some for today, on state capitols, the federal capitol, and even on perceived “liberal” churches, particularly in Arizona and Montana. We have […]
Texts: First Reading Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 147:12-20 Second Reading Ephesians 1:3-14 Gospel John 1:(1-9) 10-18 Manuscript: A few weeks ago, the Session had a special meeting for the sole purpose of discussing plans for a return to in-person worship. We had already taken some steps. Over the summer, we added hand-sanitizer stations at the doors. We had all the […]
Texts: First Reading 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Response Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26 Second Reading Romans 16:25-27 Gospel Luke 1:26-38 Manuscript: I hope our call to worship this morning seemed, at least, a little familiar. Last week, we talked about how Mary was, let’s say “undervalued” by the Reformation and remains so by many Protestant churches. There are other practices the […]
Texts: First Reading Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 Gospel Luke 1:46b-55 Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 Gospel John 1:6-8, 19-28 Manuscript: I once heard a story about a Dutch Reform Church in the Netherlands. A new minister arrived and noticed that every Sunday as the people left the church, they paused before the same spot, and many reverently touched the […]
Texts: First Reading Isaiah 40:1-11 Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13 Second Reading 2 Peter 3:8-15a Gospel Mark 1:1-8 Manuscript: A voice cries out in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord. If you were paying attention, you might have noticed a slight difference between the passage from Isaiah and the way that passage is quoted in Mark. In Isaiah, the […]
Texts: First Reading Isaiah 64:1-9 Psalm 80:1-7, 17-19 Second Reading 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 Gospel Mark 13:24-37 Manuscript: Advent is, I always feel, an odd time. It’s a season often overlooked, wedged, as it is, in this country between Thanksgiving and Christmas, filled with the rush to find, wrap, and possibly mail gifts, and, in a normal year, studded with […]
Texts: First Reading Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Psalm 100:1-5 Second Reading Ephesians 1:15-23 Gospel Matthew 25:31-46 Manuscript: Today is Christ the King Sunday, it is, as Maggie mentioned, the end of the liturgical year. It is also a bit of an odd day. Pope Pius XI first instituted the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday of October […]
Texts: First Reading Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25 Psalm 78:1-7 Second Reading 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Gospel Matthew 25:1-13 Manuscript: We were supposed to be back together, in-person today. I know some of y’all are disappointed we are not, just as I know some of you would have been with us on Zoom today either way. I know, months ago, I promised […]
Texts: Acts 17:22-31, Psalm 66:8-20, 1 Peter 3:13-22, John 14:15-21 Manuscript I hope the labels I put on the background picture this week have been helpful. Each week I try to find something that is at least tangentially related to the scripture readings and is also free for us to use. This week’s picture, for those who can’t […]
Texts: Revelation 7:9-17 Psalm 34:1-10, 22 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12 Manuscript: It is a rare day that the lectionary brings us the Revelation of John. Revelation is a strange book. It is one scholars often struggle with—as one example, John Calvin wrote a commentary on every other book of the New Testament, and Zwingli, another […]