Last week we looked at the necessity for finding new orientations in our Christian lives, sometimes radical, sometimes not so much. These course corrections are intended to open ourselves up to new ways of seeing and doing things that are more aligned with the values of Jesus and the Good News for our present day, rather than just being bound by with the way that things used to be done. Such things take work. 

Today’s lessons offer us the insight we’re not in this all alone.  We are constantly the recipients of God’s help through the Living Word, through the… Continue reading →

In Lent, we often think about the quality of our discipleship to Jesus. I keep saying that none of this needs be morose, but, as we find that our discipleship needs a tune-up, some of that can be a little depressing. Well, today’s passages all deal with “repentance,” which can continue such a trend.  If you have a Baptist background (and some others, too), the picture that may come into your mind when repentance is mentioned may be old fashioned evangelists preaching at the top of their lungs about God’s anger at us, and our need to “repent” lest God… Continue reading →

In Isaiah, chapter 40, just before those famous lines we sang as a call to worship: “Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,” we read why their strength needed to be renewed:  “Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young shall fall exhausted.”  In short, life’s exhausting, so people, even strong people, who would make it through need to wait upon the Lord.  That word “to wait,” comes from a word for a line or cord, stretched tight.  Those who wait are “stretched tight, or taut” waiting to see what happens next.  It is an… Continue reading →

It seems to me but a moment ago that we lit the first Advent candle to prepare for Jesus’ coming in a physical sense long ago, and again today in a spiritual sense. Then, it was Christmas and, after that, Epiphany with its stories about Jesus the Messiah in whom God was, and is, carrying out the divine mission set forth in the ancient words of Isaiah 61:  “to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners…”

I can hardly believe that now we are… Continue reading →

Today is the Last Sunday in Epiphany.  Epiphany, as we have said throughout, is the season of the church year when we follow the story of how Jesus was shown to be the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Saviour of the World.  The Last Sunday of Epiphany is traditionally called Transfiguration Sunday.  Next week we begin the Lenten Season, when we trace the steps of Jesus to the cross.

In my own mind, the Lessons for today present some obvious difficulties.  Both the Old Testament and the Gospel passages contain written accounts of clearly supernatural events:  the so-called… Continue reading →