Posted by enelsondixon |
Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter services are holy and foundational to our faith. But one thing I love about celebrating Good Friday, in particular, is that it naturally leaves space for grief. The songs and scripture reflect grieving and lamenting. Too often, church services or conversations in faith communities do not give enough time for expressions of pain, loss, and grief. We want…
Posted by dwhetter |
We’ve heard a lot of Scripture today, haven’t we? We began our morning by reading Luke’s version of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And we heard Paul’s words to the Philippians as he encouraged his followers: “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but…
Posted by hlewis |
The great dichotomy Sunday is upon us: where we begin with Hosannas and celebration, and quickly move to the story of Christ’s passion and betrayal. Holy Week continues as we show Christ’s love by serving each other on Maundy Thursday, and contemplate His sacrifice with beautiful music in the Good Friday Tenebrae service.
I love the word dichotomy: it is a contrast between two things,…
Posted by dwhetter |
So here we are on the 5th Sunday in Lent, and instead of hearing from the Gospel of Luke, as we will on most Sundays this year, our Gospel story today is from the Gospel of John.
So, let me set the scene for you. Jesus has been preaching and teaching and healing throughout Galilee for quite some time and he has become famous. Now, unlike the other Gospel stories, in this Gospel,…
Posted by dwhetter |
One of my favorite things I do each spring is meet with our second-graders and teach them about Holy Communion. This year, we have nine students and their parents attending the three-evening First Communion classes, where they are learning about this incredible gift God gives us. Then, on Maundy Thursday, they will receive their First Communion.
This week we learned about forgiveness…
Posted by dwhetter |
“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus.] And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1-2)
Reading these two verses reminds me of me. I have to confess, I am guilty of often looking around and comparing myself to others. I often try to justify my actions based on the bad actions…
Posted by hlewis |
I was recently surprised to hear our scripture for this week, the beloved story of the prodigal son, described instead as the story of the forgiving father. How would you describe it? The story of the spoiled kid who wasted his inheritance? His father who continued to spoil him when he returned? His loyal brother who was taken for granted? We tend to err on the side of judgment: how we feel…
Posted by dwhetter |
Today, we begin with the age-old question of why do bad things happen, or more precisely, why do bad things happen to good people? Why? We always want to know the why, and, of course, in Jesus’ day, the assumption was if something bad happened to you then you weren’t living right. You had done something wrong, or maybe your parents had done something wrong, that caused God to be angry with you,…
Posted by enelsondixon |
The Nelson Dixons are excited to introduce you to Gilbert Dixon! He was born on March 8, 2019. He weighed 8 lb. 6 oz. and was 21 inches long.
The Nelson Dixon fam is doing well and settling into the new normal. Gilbert’s older sisters…
Posted by dwhetter |
Last week I spoke about how we ought to love who we are. After all, we are children of God. We are created in God’s image and we are those God has commanded to care for and nurture all of God’s creation. So if we are to love who we are, it only makes sense to me that we ought to also love what we do. That is, if we love who we are and the gifts God has given each of us individually, and communally,…