I’ve been thinking a lot about peace recently. We are in the midst of Advent, a season of hope, peace, love, and joy. It’s in this season when we proclaim the words of Isaiah 9:6-7: For a child has been born for us,a son given to us;authority rests upon his shoulders;and he is namedWonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of
To get a better picture of Jesus, let’s look at two stories together, Mark 10:32-34 and then verses 35-45: They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to
You can look at some of the big picture issues of location and context and fear within Mark 5:1-19. Today I want to look at little bit a the people involved in this story: Jesus Heals the Gerasene Demoniac They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when he had stepped out
As we start our journey through Mark together, today we are going to look at Chapter 1:1-8: In the NRSV this section is entitled The Proclamation of John the Baptist: 1 The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead
How do you live a happy life? For you, what would result in happiness? We may have a list. If I have this. Or if I have that. If I’m able to accomplish this. Or if this happens at work, or at home, or in my own life, then I’ll be happy. We’ve probably all got our list of what
I mentioned in my sermon here at St. Matthew’s that I really love the book of Psalms. They are honest, they are beautiful and they speak to the heart, and come from the heart. They really are some of the most powerful words on all the scripture. So, often when I am reading the texts for each day, my eyes are drawn to whatever
Grace is not a one-time thing. God doesn’t just see our sins, forgive us one time, and then choose to be done with us forever. No, God constantly gives us grace. God gives us grace to forgive us, He gives us grace to empower us, He gives us grace to lead us. For us, and for the world, grace is
One of the things that I know most about faith is that we are going somewhere. We are on the move. We have a direction and a purpose. Now that somewhere, in time, is heaven. One day, for those of us that believe, we will cross over into eternity and we will forever be with the Lord. That’s something to
One of the great blessings in life is to celebrate the ways that God works and moves. Sometimes, in our bid to stay humble, we can forget to give testimony to what God has done. Now, we do want to be careful, making sure that God gets the glory for whatever good happens in life, but we need to stop
One of the best things in the world that we can do is know ourselves. Know our strengths. Know our weaknesses. There’s an old saying – know thyself. That’s a good thing. Because when we know ourselves, we know what to be on the lookout for. What are things that could cause us trouble. What are the things in our
My first appointment out of seminary was the hardest appointment that I’ve ever had. It wasn’t because the people were hard to pastor: they were some of the sweetest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of serving. It wasn’t because the church was located in a bad place: it was out in the country, a beautiful church and beautiful parsonage.
I’m at just about the halfway point of renewal leave (i.e. Sabbatical). I took my first church job in 1997, and ever since then, I’ve worked in the church. A couple of them were part-time, and then I took my first appointment at a pastor in 1999 to three small United Methodist Churches outside of Cleveland, MS. In other words,
As we prepare to enter into the season of Lent, there is always a call to fasting. That is one of the definitive features of this time of Lent. It is a time to pull back from all the abundance of our life, particularly for those of us in the West, and to refocus ourselves upon God, on our great
One of my great hesitancies when I first entered the ministry concerned leadership. I was afraid to lead. I had too many doubts. What if I choose wrong? What if I lead my people poorly? What if I make a mistake and it all falls apart? As I was going through ordination in the United Methodist Church, my mentor suggested I read In the Name of
Have you ever felt like there was something that you needed to say for Jesus, but you didn’t have the words? You didn’t know what you should say or how you should say it? I’ve been there. I think we’ve all been there. At times, we talk ourselves out of witnessing to someone or saying something to someone, because of fear within us about what
Recently I read a quote that has stuck with me: “looking at our culture, you’d think self-expression, not self-control, is a virtue.” I’ve thought a lot about that: there is a lot there. Today’s reading from 1 Corinthians 8: 9-13 brought it back to my mind: But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the
Sometimes when we read scripture we wonder, “what can this passage be saying to me in this moment? How can I understand it? What may God want me to do with this truth at this time in my life?” Sometimes it can be hard to understand, hard to deal with. And then there are other passages that are so simple they leap off the
You can read all kinds of studies out there showing that ministry is isolating. You see the stats that pastors experience burnout in staggering numbers. I remember sitting in class and hearing that many of the people to your right and your left will not be there in a few years. I remember laughing and thinking to myself, oh, not us. We
There is so much that we can learn about God, our life, our calling, by looking at the life of Jesus Christ. He can teach us how to love, how to be faithful, how to be holy, how to see to live out the good news of God’s love each day. And today we see something very significant, and very important to Jesus’ life and his
Have you ever felt really badly about something you’ve done wrong? Have you ever in some way harmed another person or harmed your walk with God? Have you ever done something that you just know you should not have done, and then you realize it. And wow. You feel terrible. You just feel awful. You want to make it right.
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