October is here! And for me, when we get to October, I immediately think about confirmation. Our tradition here at Salem is to celebrate confirmation on the last two Sundays of October, so this month there will be a lot of activities with the confirmands. One of the activities for me is to read through all of the sermon feedback booklets. Although it is time-consuming, I love doing it…
Mark 9:38-50 Common English Bible (CEB)
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone throwing demons out in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn’t following us.”
39 Jesus replied, “Don’t stop him. No one who does powerful acts in my name can quickly turn around and curse me.40…
Posted by hlewis |
I love that our youth are leading worship this Sunday with this scripture from Mark 9:37: “Whomever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me … and the One who sent me.”
Our church works hard at being welcoming, and if you want to see that in action, come on Sunday and watch our youth joyfully lead worship. They have been encouraged since they were little to stay in…
There is an old story about a wealthy man who owned his own business. Each year at the annual company picnic the man would spend most of the day going around and talking with his employees and their families. One year, as the day was coming to an end, the man finally wandered into the food tent to get some food. As he went through the line, he was handed a plate with a chicken leg, potato…
Mark 7:24-30 Common English Bible (CEB)
Jesus left that place and went into the region of Tyre. He didn’t want anyone to know that he had entered a house, but he couldn’t hide. In fact, a woman whose young daughter was possessed by an unclean spirit heard about him right away. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was Greek, Syrophoenician by birth. She begged Jesus to throw the…
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I know we have a lot of writers in our congregation, and I think what they do is amazing. Words have so much power in helping us interpret and navigate our lives — they can confuse or make clear the intent of the message. The Bible is a great example, with its many different languages and interpretations of scripture.
Here’s an example from this week’s scripture, Mark 7:15, from…
This Sunday, August 26, we will finish reading through the 6th Chapter of the Gospel of John. For the past five weeks, we have been hearing Jesus speak of being the bread of life. Now, as glad as I am to be just about finished with preaching about bread, I do have to say I am going to miss it because, even though the teachings Jesus offers in…
John 6:51-58 (Common English Bible (CEB))
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Then the Jews debated among themselves, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Jesus said…
Posted by hlewis |
I absolutely believe in miracles. If you’ve worked with me, you know that I’m all about the big picture — if something amazing occurs, I don’t question the details or try to figure out the magic. I’m married to an auditor, so I leave the explanations to him!
My take on unexpected blessings is to give thanks for the wonders, and keep searching for more. I have a friend who calls…
This past Sunday, we began a five-week series of readings from Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John. This series of readings focuses on one thing, and that is that Jesus is “the Bread of Life.” When it comes to healthy living, nutrition experts tell us that we should eat certain amounts of foods from the various food groups — vegetables, fruits, grains, meats, poultry, fish, and dairy. …