In March of 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic, I read an amazing book, John Barry’s, “The Great Influenza.” In the book, Barry traces the history of the flu virus from 1918-1920 which cut across the globe, in which as many as 100 million people may have died. He walks us through the history of medical science and the handful of doctors and researchers who were coming to understand viruses and inoculations—just barely in time.
Read MoreHere’s what I’d like you to consider this morning: God loves a good surprise.
Read MoreLet’s go on a careful walk through our text this morning…I think you’ll be surprised at just how many layers of meaning there are to explore.
Read MoreIf you search carefully enough, you can find almost anything on the internet. Every now and then, what you find is amazing.
Read MoreLast week, we heard Jesus’ summary of the law: love God and love your neighbors. The point isn’t to be a perfect person. The point is to be a loving person. If we choose to live faithfully then we will live differently. We don’t get to be like everyone else.
Read MoreHere’s an interesting question: did Jesus think he was starting a new religion or did he think he was reforming Judaism?
Read MoreSo, is Christianity about going to heaven when this life is done or is Christianity about how to live in this lifetime?
Read MoreSo, this is the third week in which we are going backwards in the Gospel of Mark.
Read MoreThis morning, I would like to offer a pretty close reading of our text. What happens when you look at a text and then look at it again? How does the text speak differently with each new pass? This is a big part of my little world, re-reading scripture to see what I missed before. Maybe there’s something you missed, too?
Read MoreTwenty-six years ago, when I started as the pastor of the Union Church, pretty much every trustees meeting was marked by abject fear. “What if the boiler breaks?” “What if the organ falls apart?” “What if the “summer slump” in giving doesn’t stop?” The fears were not unreasonable. However, they also could be disabling. We lived in crisis management mode for years.
Read MoreLast week, the final note of our text was Jesus’ words to the disciples. They were doing exactly what Jesus had ordered them to do: crossing the Sea of Galilee. It was night. The winds were howling against them. Fear and despair were creeping in. At which point, all of us who have ever believed that we were doing the right thing—the faithful thing—only to find our efforts totally opposed, should be identifying with those lonely, scared men in the boat. Jesus comes to them. Their fear only increases because they’re sure that they are seeing a ghost. Then, Jesus speaks to them: “Take heart. It is I. Do not be afraid.”
Read MoreSo, I told this story but it was a long time ago… I was on a canoe trip with one friend, a really experienced camper and paddler. We were out in May which feels like it is still winter up north. It was cold as we sandwiched our packs into his pickup truck and then laid the canoe on top of the yoke on his truck. We were silent as we strapped the canoe down. Had it been a large group, we would have been talking up a storm. With just the two of us, there was room for silence. With the years between us, a nod and a lifted eyebrow said all that needed to be said.
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