Christ is risen! Jesus is alive, and God has swallowed up death forever. With Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, we may feel confused, afraid, terrified, unsure of what to make of the empty tomb and the promise of new life. But this is why we gather: to proclaim, witness, praise, and […]
This day is intense as we pivot from triumphant shouts of “Hosanna” and palms in Jesus’ parade to look towards the somber events to come later this week. In the middle of these stories we hear about the unnamed woman who anoints Jesus as a prophetic act before he is crucified. Her unconventional gesture of […]
We all have moments of heartbreak in our lives. It’s part of being human. But when our hearts are broken, it is like the turning of soil in the spring to be planted with new seeds and the hope of something new. Jesus tries to explain his coming death and resurrection using the image of […]
Sometimes the Bible is just flat-out weird. Our readings today include a strange and mysterious story of poisonous snakes with the Israelites in the wilderness and a strange and mysterious conversation that Jesus has with Nicodemus at night. The thing that causes sickness and suffering in these stories is transformed into an agent of healing. […]
What’s hiding in your closet? The Ten Commandments call us to trust that God will provide all things that we need. Therefore we don’t need to spend our whole lives accumulating more. When Jesus throws the merchants out of the temple, he is cleaning house, defending the worship of God alone and rejecting the ways […]
In these stories of flood and wilderness, we hear about the power of a new beginning, a fresh start. However, a fresh start isn’t always the same as a clean slate. It doesn’t always look pretty, but God takes our raw materials and builds something new out of them. God takes what we are and […]
At his transfiguration, Jesus becomes dazzlingly bright and his face and clothes shine like the sun. But what about the others there? They don’t get the “glow up” treatment that Jesus does, but they too are transfigured in a slower and less sparkly way. God calls and transfigures us to shine brightly as agents of […]
In Jesus’ healing work, we see the hand of God, lifting up those who are ill to health and service and lifting up the powerless to soar on wings like eagles. Through our own hands, imperfect yet gifted, we are given the gifts of community and relationship. Healing brings us out of isolation and into […]
Who’s got the power? Is it the unclean spirit (whatever that is) possessing the man in the synagogue? Is it Jesus, who tells him to get lost? Power without limits makes us a little wild. It’s exhilarating and it goes to our head. Jesus gives us the power to say NO to destructive power, and […]
Good news, bad news; which do you want first? In a world filled with things labeled as good news, we are hungry for truly good news that is more than just empty words. In Jesus, God’s expansive, powerful, healing love has come near to this broken world. This good news turns us around and catches […]