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
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…
January 10, 2021
January 10, 2021 “Spirit of Gentleness” Genesis 1:1-5 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 I have a bottle of River Jordan water on my bookshelf. Actual, official, certified Jordan River water. The bottle was clear. The water was…reasonably clear. The top was sealed and waxed and on label is said that it was actual Jordan River water where Jesus was baptized. We read of that story in the Bible. I am not about to doubt the authenticity of the water nor the…
January 3, 2021
January 3, 2021 “Pass it On” Jeremiah 31:7-14 Ephesians 1:3-14 John 1:1-18 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, how appropriate is it that as we begin a brand-new year, our Gospel lesson for today starts with the words, “In the beginning…” This is the beginning of a new year – a fresh start after a year like no…
December 20, 2020
December 20, 2020 “Entering the Story” 2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:26-38 Luke 1:46b-55 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, it was just a short walk from the guest house where I was staying in Nazareth five years ago to the Church of the Annunciation – a beautiful basilica built over the spot in the village of Nazareth…
December 13, 2020
The Messenger of the Messenger Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24 John 1:19-28 And so John came, baptizing in the desert region and preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. That is what the Gospel of Mark says in verse 4 of chapter 1. A question I get all the time is: Did the Jews baptize like we do? To answer that question let me tell you a story about Muslims. Every year we take the Confirmation…
Blue Christmas Service
December 6, 2020 Blue Christmas Service “What Are We to Say?” Luke 1:26-38 Romans 8:31-32, 37-39 Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, oh God, our strength and our redeemer. AMEN So, each year as I prepare the Blue Christmas service, I spend time reflecting on the past year. I think about those we lost in our church family. I think about all that has…