In today’s day and age, it is far too easy to fall into an “Us versus Them" mentality. As for myself, I would much rather spend time with people who are just like me. But that is not the way of Jesus. In our scripture story, Jesus forces us out of our comfort zones, so that we can face our sin and to be reconciled with those with whom we’d rather avoid…so that we can worship God in Spirit and in truth.
Terroir is a french term used in wine making that describes the environmental characteristics in which grapes are grown. In other words, this is the soil, climate, and sunlight that give the grapes their distinct character and taste. Our Christian faith has its own terroir which includes the idea of spiritual rebirth. Jesus said without being reborn in the spirit that we cannot being to understand spiritual things.
In today’s Gospel story, John tells of when Jesus overturned money changer's tables and drove out animals being sold for sacrifices in the Jerusalem. What got him so irate was how the religious hierarchy of his day had constructed barriers that got in the way of people freely worshiping God in Spirit and in truth. We explore more of the details of the story and ask what might upset Jesus in our practice of Christianity in America today. Wha
The example of how Jesus’ first disciples came to follow Him shows the power of a personal invitation by a family member or friend. All we need to do is faithfully invite people to “Come and See Jesus for themselves” and then let them make up their own minds, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit. What if evangelism was to be that simple? If we all did that, the Church would be overflowing with followers of Jesus Christ.
The most important thing we can do as Christians and the Church is to point people to Jesus Christ. We proclaim Jesus to others, not convince, that he IS the Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And then we trust the Holy Spirit do the work of bringing people to faith.
The Gospel of John is unlike the other three Synoptic Gospels or Matthew, Mark and Luke. The beginning especially sounds much like it could have been a poem or hymn sung in the early church. Indeed, we learn so much about the nature and character of our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit by John’s words. Words that bring life to the full and light to all who receive them by faith.
Wonder is the beginning of all scientific discoveries. It can also be the beginning of our faith journeys as well. This week, we celebrated the Epiphany or day when Magi, Persian astrologers began their journey of wonder searching for the one born King of the Jews. It was a journey that required faith, sacrifice, and discovery, that led to finding Jesus and bringing exceedingly great joy.
I love Christmas season with all its traditions, decorations, songs, and festivities. But the older I get, the harder it seems to get to keep it all spinning as such. All of those material trapping are fine, but it’s not where we should derive the true joy as we celebrate Jesus' birth. The true joy comes in knowing that Jesus, our Savior, was born, died, and was resurrected again to new life so that we may know beyond a shadow of doub
Jospeh is by far my favorite character, other than Jesus, in the Nativity story. As a man after God’s own heart, Joseph was known for wanting to do what was right before God and his fiancée Mary. While the world may have told Joseph to run from this less than ideal situation, he instead chose to risk knowing that God was with him and that it would be worth it.
John the Baptist is not a voice that we often hear at Christmastime. And yet his prophetic words during Advent call us to wait with anticipation that God will call us to something new and different. We may not be able to change the world ourselves, but we can certainly respond in faith to God’s calling and make big impacts in our immediate circles of influence. And if we all did that, the world would change…one heart at a
