I, therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called. Ephesians 4:1 Today, as I continue my sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, my focus turns to Chapter 4, and especially to its opening words, quoted above. That is…
I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit. Ephesians 3:16 “What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words!,” Mark Twain wrote. “His real life is led in his head,…
For [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. Ephesians 2:14 Last week, I began a sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians: "For the Praise of God's Glory." I looked at the beginning of this…
So that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:12 Today I am beginning a new sermon series on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, which is going to be featured in the second reading of our lectionary for the next six weeks.…
On the Sabbath [Jesus] began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. Mark 6:2 Our gospel reading today (Mark 6:1-13) begins on the Sabbath, and begins with Jesus doing what he always did on the Sabbath: Worshiping God. Which is why we are here, after all. Today, we are doing…
Introduction In May of 2019 I read a book that set me on a five-year quest, a very challenging but deeply fulfilling adventure that has resulted in this long-anticipated post. The book that I read was Eugene Peterson's “Take and Read: Spiritual Reading: An Annotated List.” And in this book, Peterson made a suggestion that…
Jesus said: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease." Mark 5:34 Before Jesus died and rose again, he raised three people from the dead: the widow’s son at Nain, Lazarus, and Jairus’s daughter, the one in today's gospel reading (Mark 5:21-43). To me, this begs the…
Jesus said: “The Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27 “Observe the Sabbath day,” we are told in Deuteronomy 5:12, “and keep it holy.” But what does that mean? In today’s gospel reading (Mark 2:23-3:6), we see that Jesus and the Pharisees do not agree about this basic commandment.…
[Jesus prayed:] "Now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one." John 17:11 Our gospel reading today (John 17:6-19) is a prayer,…
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25-26 A young man in our congregation, Jonathan1, was dying of cancer, and he knew it. He was a…
My Pastoral Ponderings 