Going Ahead
Matt 28:1-10 It’s Easter, and like all Easters before we gather to celebrate the empty tomb. However, this year I notice Jesus’ comforting words about “going ahead” of us. As we follow Jesus, we go knowing that he is waiting for us wherever we are headed – preparing for our arrival, ready to receive and welcome us.
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- Apr 9, 2023Going Ahead
Going AheadMatt 28:1-10 It’s Easter, and like all Easters before we gather to celebrate the empty tomb. However, this year I notice Jesus’ comforting words about “going ahead” of us. As we follow Jesus, we go knowing that he is waiting for us wherever we are headed – preparing for our arrival, ready to receive and welcome us.
- Apr 2, 2023Your King is Coming: Matthew 21:1-11
Your King is Coming: Matthew 21:1-11This morning we heard the reading of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem as well as the story of his trial and death so that we can combine both palms and passion. The resounding refrain for this liturgy is “your King is coming.” Are we prepared for Christ to break into our lives? Do our expectations match the reality of his coming? Do we expect a conqueror on a horse or a carpenter on a colt?
- Mar 26, 2023Spiritual Life: Rom 8:6-11
Spiritual Life: Rom 8:6-11Paul speaks of dwelling in the Spirit as a multi-directional relationship. As the Spirit dwells in us, we also dwell in the Spirit. To dwell is not to rest but to live, actively not passively. The Spirit lives in us, guiding us and directing us so that our living is formed by the living Spirit within us. As God’s Spirit lives in us, we live by and in God’s Spirit.
- Mar 24, 2023Chilren of Light
Chilren of Light“Everything that becomes visible is light,” so because Christ has shown his light upon us, making us visible before God, we now are also light. It is strange logic to us who talk about light differently; we would use the word reflect. God’s light shines on us, and we reflect it out into the world. Everything that God is and does is reflected and projected through our lives.
- Mar 19, 2023Children of Light: Eph 5:8-14
Children of Light: Eph 5:8-14“Everything that becomes visible is light,” so because Christ has shown his light upon us, making us visible before God, we now are also light. It is strange logic to us who talk about light differently; we would use the word reflect. God’s light shines on us, and we reflect it out into the world. Everything that God is and does is reflected and projected through our lives.
- Mar 12, 2023Boasting in God: Romans 5:1-11
Boasting in God: Romans 5:1-11Forgiveness is often the word most used to describe the effect of Jesus in the life of the believer, but of the many effects listed in Romans 5:1-11, the word is not found. Forgiveness is a part of life with Christ, but so is peace, reconciliation, the gift of the Spirit, justification, hope, love, and even sharing in the glory of God. This passage gives us far more to boast about than merely forgiveness. Forgiveness is often the word most used to describe the effect of Jesus in the life of the believer, but of the many effects listed in Romans 5:1-11, the word is not found. Forgiveness is a part of life with Christ, but so is peace, reconciliation, the gift of the Spirit, justification, hope, love, and even sharing in the glory of God. This passage gives us far more to boast about than merely forgiveness.
- Mar 5, 2023Righteousness by Faith: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17
Righteousness by Faith: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17Paul boldly declares that it is our faith that brings righteousness, not our righteousness that earns our faith. We cannot ever earn our salvation, but through the free gift of salvation we are reckoned as righteous. In other words, righteousness follows faith as a marker of our new life with Christ.
- Feb 26, 2023Dominion: Romans 5:12-19
Dominion: Romans 5:12-19The way that Paul speaks of death and life, sin and grace is temporarily different than we traditionally think of it. We tend to think of sin as a present reality with grace, righteousness, and life being an eternal reality, but Paul speaks of righteousness and life in the present and sin and death in the past. Sin had dominion over us, now we live in the dominion of righteousness, grace, and life.
- Feb 19, 2023Fear and Love
Fear and LoveAs God’s voice booms out of the cloud to direct people to Jesus, we would be wise to listen. Jesus calls his disciples to not be afraid as they experience the direct presence of God, drawing them deeper into love and deeper into the presence of God. As John would say “love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
- Feb 12, 2023Salt and Light
Salt and LightWe are called to be the salt and light of the world, which is a tall and intimidating order. However, when we stop to think about it, to add salt to a main course is to bring out the flavor that is already there, and to be a light is to illuminate something hidden by darkness. In this way, to be salt and light is to draw attention to Jesus with our words, actions, and lives.
- Feb 5, 2023Who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?Epiphany is a time to understand who Jesus is and in this text he wears many hats, consolation of Israel, light to the gentiles, glory of Israel, sign of opposition, and even piercer of souls. So we join Mary and Joseph this week in being amazed at all these things, contemplating how we relate to Jesus.
- Jan 22, 2023Kingdom of God
Kingdom of GodThe Kingdom of God/Heaven is not ours and we do not take it anywhere. Rather, we meet it when it comes near, and it is up to us to decide how we respond. God is constantly at work in and around us, but we have to have the eyes to see and the ears to see what God is doing. If we pay attention to the movement of God’s kingdom then we stand a better chance at welcoming it when it draws near.
- Jan 15, 2023Evangelism
EvangelismWe pressure ourselves to be like Jesus, to go out there and make disciples. The problem is, we aren’t Jesus and it isn’t our responsibility to save the world. This text reminds us that we are more of a John the Baptist rather than Jesus. Our role is to invite others to encounter Jesus, and then Jesus can take it from there.
- Jan 8, 2023Jesus’ Example
Jesus’ ExampleWe see who Jesus is in the act of baptism. Even without the dove and the voice of God declaring the identity of Jesus, we recognize Jesus in the act of death, burial, and resurrection. Though Jesus did not require baptism, he still chose to partake in the ritual, exemplifying to us the value in constant commitment to the Christian act of dying to self and living for God.
- Jan 3, 2023Emmanuel: Matt 2:13-23
Emmanuel: Matt 2:13-23What hope do we find at the end of the Christmas when the decorations all come down? Is there hope in this passage of a refugee family in the midst of slaughter?
- Dec 18, 2022Choice
ChoiceIn the dark days before Christ's birth, Joseph had a choice to make. The easy way--the one that would bring disgrace to Mary but leave his own honor intact. Or choose to believe, but take the path of controversy, shame, and hardship. We all have to make the same choice--what do you do with Jesus, with Emmanuel, God with Us?In the dark days before Christ's birth, Joseph had a choice to make. The easy way--the one that would bring disgrace to Mary but leave his own honor intact. Or choose to believe, but take the path of controversy, shame, and hardship. We all have to make the same choice--what do you do with Jesus, with Emmanuel, God with Us?
- Dec 11, 2022Witness: Matt 11:2-11
Witness: Matt 11:2-11When witnessing to the power and personhood of Jesus, his disciples are called to tell others what they have seen and heard. The true power of faith in Jesus is found in the joyful truth of all the wonders that Jesus has worked in our lives and throughout the world. Today we celebrate the joy of looking back on what Jesus has done and looking forward to all that is to come. When witnessing to the power and personhood of Jesus, his disciples are called to tell others what they have seen and heard. The true power of faith in Jesus is found in the joyful truth of all the wonders that Jesus has worked in our lives and throughout the world. Today we celebrate the joy of looking back on what Jesus has done and looking forward to all that is to come. avitt.
- Dec 4, 2022Prepare: Matt 3:1-12
Prepare: Matt 3:1-12John’s message in Matt 3 is certainly dire and one we would rather avoid. It is easier to read this text and disassociate from the “brood of vipers,” justifying our reading by assuming this isn’t for us. But what if it is? How do we react if John calls us to repentance? Perhaps we start by remembering a call to repent is a warning grounded in a desire for success, mercy, and grace rather than judgment and anger.
- Nov 27, 2022Ready: Matt 24:36-44
Ready: Matt 24:36-44After 2000 years, waiting expectantly for the return of Christ is not getting any easier. We grow complacent in the comfort of always assuming the existence of tomorrow, and it becomes easy to think that even if Christ is coming back, it likely won’t be during my time. And it is to this exact occasion that Jesus guards our hearts with the warning in Matt 24. We not only should not give up hope and belief in the return of Christ, but we should guard our hearts against the evils of the world by constantly and intentionally preserving the gifts of Christ in our lives – hope, peace, love, and joy.
- Nov 20, 2022Peace
PeacePs 46 highlights the juxtaposition of fear and the presence of God; it is the presence of God that causes the people of God to rest in stillness while the world trembles in fear of the evils of life. The victory won for us on the cross leads us into a life of stillness, without fear, just as much as the cross provides a life of mercy and forgiveness.
