If you were good enough, there would be no need of confessing Christ at all. It is just because you are not good enough, that Christ says to you, “Follow me.” He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It is not the perfect people whom He wants in His church, but those who have a deep sense of their own imperfection, and who believe that His strength is made perfect in weakness.
Washington Gladden
May 9, 2021
May 9, 2021 Love One Another, As I have Loved you Recently I was talking with a few of the Confirmation Students. And I think the question that I ask them was…”what is one thing that you would ask of Christianity if you could?” Two of the students essentially said the same thing: “Why can’t people get along?” I suppose I could end this meditation right there by saying to you all…”Hey your teenage kids are asking us why we…
May 16, 2021
May 16, 2021 “Being in the World” Acts 1:15-17, 21-26 1 John 5:9-13 John 17:6-19 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN OK, so I have a true confession. There are days when I dream of completely escaping the real world and the pressures of life. I envision maybe living in a small cabin on a cliff overlooking the ocean, with minimal…
May 2, 2021
“Tending the Vineyard” Acts 8:26-31, 35-39 1 John 4:16b-21 John 15:1-8 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN I distinctly remember dropping my oldest son off at college back when he began his freshman year at Ohio University. I remember feeling very emotional as he was my firstborn and so the first to leave the nest. And I remember wanting so badly…
April 18, 2021
“Peace Be With You” Acts 3:12-19 1 John 3:1-3 Luke 24:36b-48 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN One thing I love about this time of year – in these weeks following Easter Sunday – is the emphasis in the scriptures on the Risen Christ and the ways in which the disciples, and Jesus’ other followers, try to make some sense out…
April 11, 2021
April 11, 2021 “When Kindred Live in Unity (Psalms) or The Believers Shared their possessions” (Acts) Acts 4:32-35 John 20:19-31 There once were two villages separated by a river. In one of these villages lived a man and he was the only one in his village who knew how to make chairs. He carefully guarded his secret way of making chairs. He was afraid to teach others because he thought that they would not make the chairs correctly. Over time,…
March 21, 2021
March 21, 2021 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor. There may be a…