It is still the same day – resurrection day – Easter day. Today, God is present and near. Jesus is at the table sharing the meal, connecting us to one another and sending us out to be his hands and feet and heart in the world. Luke 24:13-35 It was still the same day – … [Read more…]
“Mortal, can these bones live?” (Ezekiel 37:3). This question asked of Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones may hit awfully close to home for us and for our world. And yet, even when we are in the midst of it, we still know the end of the story, we know that God’s final word … [Read more…]
When you look out on the world, at the people around you, what do you see? In the 9th chapter of John, we read the story of the man who was born blind who is given the gift of sight. This story makes me wonder about the difference between what we see and what God … [Read more…]
In the give and take of a relationship with God, this “Living Water” that Jesus offers has the power to not only quench our thirsts, but to wash away all that keeps us from living the life that God intends – to wash away all that keeps us from drinking deeply from the living water … [Read more…]
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. –Romans 12:1 To “Place Your Life Before God” takes a huge amount of trust. Think about those leaps of faith, those risks taken in your own life — … [Read more…]
What do you think of when you hear the word “offering”? In a church context, we likely think of the money that is collected during worship. The reality is, however, that God has much more than money in mind when it comes to our “offering”. Listen to these words from Romans: So here’s what I want … [Read more…]
Responding to Jesus’ offer of freedom and a new start takes vision – our ability to respond, actually starts with our eyes and how we see the world and the people around us. And in the story of Jesus’ transfiguration it also starts with bright lights, metamorphosis and an unbelievable trip up a mountain. Matthew … [Read more…]
Turn the other cheek – love our enemies – pray for those who persecute us? Of course, it all looks good on paper, especially coming from Jesus, but come on, he can’t be serious? And just when you thought you might be able to try out this stuff from Jesus – he caps it off … [Read more…]
Both Jesus and Moses encourage us to not fight the law, but to lean into it, to stand upon it, to trust it as a guide for our lives and a reminder that God’s law is truly a matter of the heart. A matter of the lengths that God will go and has gone to … [Read more…]
When it comes to our practice of faith and a relationship with God – God is not interested in simply seeing a box checked. Instead, God wants the relationship to be ingrained in us. God wants justice and kindness to be embedded in the culture of the community, to be the very air that we … [Read more…]