As I have said, I abandoned the lectionary texts of the morning, which were good ones by the way, after I was well along in the preparation process. I did it because today is our annual meeting, and it is an annual meeting in which we are facing some pretty big changes brought about by my retirement from the seminary. Our proposed budget, for example, is less than 72% of what it has been for over a decade. We have known, down deep of course, since we first started the seminary project that this day would come. And it is… Continue reading →

I would guess that most of you know that the sermon title is just part of a line from a Gospel Song called “He Lives,” written by the evangelist Alfred H. Ackley in 1933. It’s in our hymnal, in the Easter section. As I say, I have borrowed this half- or quarter-line of poetry as a title, not only to refer to the risen Jesus as alive, but as alive in the lives of disciples who are “…in the world today.” You probably will have noticed over the years that, however much I speak of God or Jesus, I want… Continue reading →

Last week I introduced the season of Epiphany by saying that this season of the year celebrates the revelation of God in the human being Jesus. It celebrates the universal – God’s love and plan and mission for the whole world – in one specific human person – Jesus of Nazareth. Christians, at our best, have faith in Jesus, who, as he is portrayed in the Gospels especially, is the one who brings concrete humanity to who God is and what God values. The season of Epiphany seeks to help us with that as well. It’s saying to us that… Continue reading →

Maxine and I missed being with you last week, on the first Sunday of the New Year. As we think of this New Year that we will walk together, many of us would like to know what kind of a year will it be? How will we succeed in our mission to reach out to our community as the hands and feet of Jesus? Might a few more people want to come and join us? There’s the ever practical question, will we keep up our finances? Do we have any grounds to be optimistic? This morning’s scripture lessons are the… Continue reading →