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
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…
March 14, 2021
March 14, 2021 “A Love Story” Numbers 21:4-9 Ephesians 2:1-10 John 3:14-21 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 Back in 1970 a movie came out that was a huge hit at the time. It starred Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal and the movie was “Love Story.” I’m sure many of you remember it. I vividly recall going to see…
March 7, 2021
March 7, 2021 Left with a Mystery John 2:13-22 I was in the tiny island town of Sobra in Croatia. There is not a lot in Sobra. A restaurant or two and grocery that is a third the size of our narthex. We had a room in an old house on the second story overlooking the bay. The shore was about 15 yards across the street, so I could look out my window and watch the small boats move…
February 28, 2021
February 28, 2021 “A New Covenant” Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 Romans 4:13-25 Mark 8:31-38 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 clearly remember a television series that used to be a favorite of mine years ago. In the show there was a handsome young man of means who was a member of a prominent family, and this family used less…
February 21, 2021
February 21, 2021 “Light in Darkness” Genesis 9:8-17 I Peter 3:18-22 Mark 1:9-15 Psalm 25 Let me share a short story, points to some discomfort and then lets us wait until the light shines. Let me tell you about light shining in the midst of mess and emptiness. Do you recall a few years ago, there were some killings at a Jewish Synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark? A month later there were some killings in Paris at a Jewish place. Well,…
February 14, 2021
February 14, 2021 “A New Thing” Women’s Sunday Isaiah 43:18-19 2 Timothy 1:3-7 Mark 14:3-9 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 Back in 2010, my parents, who had lived in the same home for 46 years, moved out of their home and into assisted living. My mother had been dealing with Parkinson’s for a number of years and my parents…
February 7, 2021
February 7, 2021 “On the Road” Isaiah 40:21-31 Mark 1:29-39 Today, Jesus and his followers are taking to the road. I rather like that we follow, Jesus along the road. Here is a Holy Man who was not one to only sit on a mountain top retreat but He traveled. His feet became dusty and he experienced the territory and the people. I think it’s good to have a God who has experienced the life which we live. Jesus is…
January 31, 2021
“Healing Stories” 2 Kings 5:1-14 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Mark 1:40-45 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. So, our scripture passages for today offer us two different healing stories. First is the story from 2 Kings about Naaman and his healing from a skin disease. And then there is our Gospel lesson from Mark in which Jesus heals a leper.…
January 24, 2021
January 24, 2021 “Immediately They Left Their Nets” Jonah 3:1-5 Mark 1:14-20 A farmer awoke one morning and looked out his window only to find that overnight a field of daffodils had sprung up about his home. “How beautiful!” he exclaimed. “I should like to stay and wander among the flowers, but I have to plow the north wheat field today.” When he returned that evening, the daffodils had withered and died. The next day the farmer saw two small…
January 17th, 2021
January 17, 2021 “The Call” 1 Samuel 3:1-10 John 1: 43-51 When Jesus say Nathanael approaching, Jesus said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Now do you understand how Jesus knew the heart of Nathanael? Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree. The shade of a fig tree was…