Faced with impossible tasks, Jesus’ disciples asked him to “increase [their] faith!” We ask the same too when life in this world just seems too hard, too difficult, too painful. Jesus doesn’t answer them in quite the way they’d hoped. Faith cannot be stockpiled; it can only be lived. This worship service includes Communion as […]
Animals often know us better than we know ourselves, and they have much to teach us, if only we are patient and humble enough to pay attention. Today we wrap up the Season of Creation by celebrating Animal Sunday. Animals embody the good news, the gospel, that we are not alone in this world. This […]
Storms have a strange magnetic pull on us. They can terrify us, but they can also fascinate us, invigorate us, inspire us, and even soothe us to sleep. But when they grow and intensify beyond what we can bear, they overwhelm us with the realization of how climate change has tilted our planet out of […]
The ocean has captured human imagination, both mythical and scientific, for centuries. Deep, mysterious, dangerous and unpredictable…but also part of us. God cares for the ocean like a child, like our brother or sister. Jesus partners with the ocean to teach his followers and bring abundance to the people. Through Christ we are one with […]
A few months ago, NASA’s new Webb telescope showed us incredibly detailed and beautiful images of the Carina Nebula that captured our imagination. By showing the universe as a place where new life was being born, suddenly we didn’t feel quite so alone out here in our backwater arm of the Milky Way. God’s Wisdom, […]
Invited and inviting—that is the nature of the church. By God’s grace in holy baptism we have a place at Christ’s banquet table. When, by the power of that same Spirit, humility and mutual love continue among us, the church can be more inviting still. Our guest preacher and presider this day is Mr. Tom […]
Jesus meets a woman who has been suffering physically for eighteen years and heals her on the Sabbath…very controversial for that time. Everyone wants to jump into the resulting fray while the woman fades into the background. But Jesus sees her and reminds everyone that she is important too, just as important as the rule […]
Who doesn’t want peace? As it turns out…Jesus doesn’t want peace, according to the gospel reading today. Maybe that’s because the need for “peace” is often used as a reason to keep people quiet and let unjust powers rule the day. Jesus urges us to help him burn down the things that oppress others and […]
Life is hard, exhausting sometimes, and it’s hard to keep the faith. It’s hard to continue living in a way that is so different from the rest of the world and sets us up for heartbreak and disappointment. Our readings today urge us to keep the faith, not by our own power, but because Jesus […]
Do you have a lot of stuff? Many of us do…too much stuff, in fact, for many different reasons. Jesus tells a story about a man who had so much stuff that he built new barns to hold it all, and what can happen when we measure the wrong things in life. Instead of measuring […]