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No Small Blessing!

“In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). Whether you are a person that attends church regularly, or you are a person attends church rarely, or if you are a person that has come to church for the first time tonight, my guess is that if I walked up to you on the street and read this first verse to you, that you would have been…

Sing God's Song

Can you believe it is December 23rd? In talking with folks many have said, I am just not ready for Christmas. In our staff meeting a couple of weeks ago one person said, “You know, it seems like it was Halloween just yesterday and tomorrow we are celebrating Christmas.” So here’s the thing, whether we are ready or not, Christmas is coming.

Now, for most of us, being ready…

Saviors

Last week we began the Season of Advent by reading from near the end of Luke’s Gospel, and today, on this second Sunday in Advent, we go back almost to the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, which reads almost like a history lesson. It starts with a listing of the “who’s who” of 1st century rulers. Make no mistake, Luke is making a political statement about the times. He begins his…

What Do These Signs Mean?

Two weeks ago, we read from Chapter 13 of Mark’s Gospel where Jesus foretold the destruction of the Temple. In response to his teaching, the disciples had asked Jesus to tell them when this would happen and what signs they should watch for so that they would know when the end was coming. It was a great question and one they should have asked. They were hopping for some specifics so they would…

A Promised Future

When we ended our Gospel reading last week, Jesus and the disciples were sitting in the Temple watching people giving their money to the treasury in the Temple. There were people watching, and specifically, Jesus called out the generosity displayed by the poor widow who had given all she had, two copper coins. And as we begin our reading today, Jesus and the disciples are leaving the Temple and…

Enough is Enough

“Beware of the scribes, who like to walk around in long robes, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces…” (Mark 12:8). It sounds to me like Jesus is condemning the Jewish system, doesn’t it? But, if we are going to really understand the profound analysis Jesus is offering here, we must move beyond some of our prejudices. As Christians, we must recognize the prejudices that many…

It's Not Fake News!

I want to begin by saying that what I am about to say is not what I originally planned for today. Oh, I will talk about the Fake News of this world, as promised, but I have altered my words from what I planned because of the horrific actions of this past week. First of all, our week began with the news that certain political figures and journalists who had different ideologies from our president…

A Kingdom for Everyone

As I noted last Sunday, we are in the midst of reading through a portion of Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus is trying to teach the disciples about how God desires we live and care for the world. This series started with Jesus predicting his death and resurrection, but the disciples didn’t understand and instead of pursuing what that meant, they began arguing among themselves about who would be…

Don't Be A Stumbling Block

For the past several weeks we have been reading about how Jesus has been trying to teach the disciples about God’s way of thinking and turn them away from human ways of thinking, but he hasn’t been very successful. Our story ended last week this way, “[Jesus] sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took…

It's Time to Follow

Three weeks ago we heard John’s Gospel’s version of Peter’s confession of faith. This week we hear Mark’s version, when Peter says, “You are the Messiah.” If you remember in John, Jesus’ words about eating his flesh and his blood offended many of his followers, and so many of them left, but when Jesus asked the twelve if they, too, wanted to leave, “Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord,…

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