Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.
“You can’t handle the truth!” Remember that line from the movie, “A Few Good Men”? It is a classic line from a great movie, but it is also what Jesus said to his followers (and says to us today) before he left them to return to the Father. The…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God, our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the
Holy Spirit, who abides in each of us.
For the past six weeks, we have been celebrating Easter. Each time we have gathered, we have proclaimed the Risen Christ. Our scripture texts have focused not only on how Jesus engaged his followers immediately after his Resurrection, but for the past…
Posted by dwhetter |
Right off the bat, we have a question about our story today, don’t we? Who is this Judas, (not Iscariot) that Jesus is answering? Well, he is one of “The Twelve.” Actually he is one of the 14 disciples that are identified by name as being in the group of “The Twelve” according to the four Gospels. Yes, if you go and read each of the Gospels, you will discover that when it comes…
Posted by dwhetter |
As Jesus met with his disciples on that final evening, the night before he was crucified, he said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another” (John 13:34). Love, love, love! How many times have we all heard this verse of Scripture? We all know it. In our lectionary we hear it at least once a year, on Maundy…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
In the Gospel of Mark, which will be our main Gospel that we read this year, this writer claims the good news of Jesus Christ begins with Jesus’ baptism. We read about that just a couple of weeks ago, then immediately after he was baptized, we are…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Once again this week, our gospel text begins with words of comfort from Jesus. “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love” (15:9). What a beautiful statement and one that is intended to offer comfort, but then just a few verses…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
As I mentioned last week, in the Gospel of John, which we read from often during the Season of Easter, Jesus uses powerful language to describe himself. Language that implied to the people of the first century that he was no ordinary man. No, according…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul” Psalm 23:1-3). This is a verse that for most of us brings comfort and reassurance. Many read and recite this…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
OK, I know Easter Sunday was two weeks ago, but in our readings, we are still reading about what happened on that first Easter Sunday. So, let me give you a little timeline of events here. First, early in the morning, according to all the Gospels,…
Posted by dwhetter |
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, who abides in which of us. Amen
Happy Easter! I hope this day is truly a day of joy and celebration for all of you. But, I also hope, that those who come every week, those who come periodically and those who come today as a one-time thing that today causes you to think about what…