Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." John 14:27 Have you ever noticed how certain passages of Scripture seem to rise above the rest? There…
Returning from the tomb [the women] told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.…
Pilate asked [Jesus], “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” John 18:37-38 “What is…
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:23-24 The Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, blessed…
Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Luke 23:43 That is the promise that Jesus makes to the thief hanging on the cross next to him, and that is the promise that he makes to us all: That when we die, we will join him in Paradise. Our death is…
There was a man who had two sons ... Luke 15:11 So begins one of the greatest stories ever told, the story that we call “The Parable of the Prodigal Son.” It is a story told by Jesus, of course. It is his longest parable, and probably his best known. And thought by many, including…
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tested by the devil. Luke 4:1-2 In last Sunday's sermon, I posed a thought experiment: If you had to choose, I asked, just three stories from the gospels to tell…
The Lord God said, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3:19 There is a strange little website, called deathclock.com, that has been around for quite a while now. It is…
"This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!" Luke 9:35 Here is a thought experiment for you: If you had to choose just three stories from the gospels to tell someone about Jesus, and you couldn't use the stories of his death and resurrection, what would they be? And why? I asked myself that…
Jesus said: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27 There are a lot of great and important passages in the Bible about love, including the one found right at the beginning of today’s gospel reading: “But I say to you…
My Pastoral Ponderings 