I Have Decided
Matthew 16:21-28 Whenever I read our gospel lesson from the sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s gospel or even hear the words read as we did this morning, it always reminds me of an experience I had about...
View ArticleAll We Need Is Love
Matthew 18:15-20 Our world is literally swirling around us, and so many of us are preoccupied both with the daily rush of life and now our worries about friends and family in the path of hurricanes…and...
View ArticleForgiveness, a Prayer
Today in worship we talked about forgiveness. Rev. Michael Livingston preached an amazing sermon on Jesus’ direction to forgive; you can watch the service here. Here’s the pastoral prayer: As we turn...
View ArticleWhat Belongs to Me
Matthew 20:1-16 I believe that fifth grade was my favorite year of school ever. And that’s saying something, when you’re someone who basically went to school nonstop until age forty. I loved that...
View ArticleWedding Crashers
Matthew 22:1-14 There are so many uncertainties in life, so very little we can ever know for sure. There is one thing, however, that I am convinced is a universal truth of human life: weird stuff...
View ArticleReceive This Blessing
Matthew 5:1-12 If we were playing a game of word association and I said the word “saint,” what would be your immediate response? It doesn’t count if you say your own name…. Most of us would eventually...
View ArticleSimple Gifts: When a Letter is Not Enough
When a Letter Isn’t Enough Rev. Dr. Amy Butler Luke: 1:26-38 Imagine my shock this week when I mentioned how I used to use Aerogrammes all the time when I was in seminary and lived overseas, and my...
View ArticleInvitation, a Meditation for Maundy Thursday
It’s been 15 years since Fred Rogers died. To be honest, I never really knew him as “Fred;” he was always Mr. Rogers to me and probably to a lot of you. I remember thinking as a child that Mr. Rogers...
View ArticleSabbath as Relationship
“Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.” It’s number four on our list of the ten big commandments, but true confession: for most of my life so far, it’s the other nine that have given me the most...
View ArticleA Prayer for the Living of These Days
Lord, we’re here today looking for respite, relief, repair…something, anything, that will lead us safely out of the whirlwind that has become our reality in America today. We can’t help it—the news is...
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