Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me…” (John 10:14). This is a beautiful verse of scripture and one that I hope we all find comforting and empowering. But, before we can get to its meaning for us today, we ought to take a look at the context in which it was said and to whom Jesus was speaking when he said this.

Shortly before Jesus began this teaching…

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me;…

For the third week in a row, we have read a portion of the Resurrection story. On Easter we heard Mark’s version, last week we heard part of John’s version, and now today we are reading part of Luke’s version of the Resurrection. In Mark’s story, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb. In John’s version, the writer only mentions Mary Magdalene going to the…

I’ve been given a gift this school year, as my youngest began 1^st grade: the gift of time to connect with people during the day. For the first time in 14 years, my day isn’t split in half with children coming to/from half-day preschool or kindergarten. In other words, I am free for lunch!! It’s a wonderful excuse to reconnect with people I care…

“When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, 'Peace be with you' ” (John 20:19). This verse always brings me comfort because in the midst of real fear, according to the writer of John’s Gospel, the first thing our Lord did for his disciples after…

I pray that you have had a blessed week and experienced a joyous Easter Day.

We survived Lent, celebrated Jesus’ resurrection, and now we are to proclaim his resurrection to the world during the season of Easter. Remember the Easter Proclamation? “Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed, alleluia!” As people of The Resurrection, we are challenged to proclaim these words not just…

Happy Easter! You know, Easter is probably my favorite holiday. For me I can’t even say the word Easter without smiling. It is a happy day because for so long now, 40 days, we have been focusing on what needs to change in our lives and how we are to do that, and now, today, we get to focus on he joy that will make that change possible. We get to hear how Jesus overcame death and that…

As we gather this evening, we begin to bring our Lenten observance to an end, and we gather with Christians around the world to celebrate the Three Days of Jesus’ death and resurrection. At the core of this gathering is Jesus’ commandment to love one another and as we heard Jesus command, we aren’t to love like the world loves, but like Jesus loved. “Just as I have loved you, you…

16When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which…

Today we begin our final week of our Lenten journey. In the church we call this Holy Week and it begins today with Palm/Passion Sunday, which I always find to be a very odd day. Today we began our time of worship with a celebration. Like those faithful followers back in the first century, we shouted Hosanna and we celebrated Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Our Messiah arrived…