The work of the church can be stated in two sentences: Teach people how to love God; and Engage in the loving service of others. Those are the things that we should be about. Those are the things we should support.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Lent 3b – 3-March-24”
The work of the Church consists of two movements. Just as the disciples encountered Jesus in a way that increased their understanding of who he was and what he meant, so we too must encounter our Christ in ways that increase our understanding and help us to grow in the faith.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation (Gospel) for Lent 2b – 24-February-24”
In our gospel story for today, among the other things that Jesus was doing, he was preparing himself to begin his earthly ministry. There are a lot of things that this church does, but one of those things is to prepare people to take the Good News of God's love for all people out into the world and share it with others.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Lent 1b – 18-February-24”
The Church has three basic jobs: First is to share with all people the Good News of God's love for all people. Second is to teach the things that Jesus taught us. Third is to be God's presence in our world.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Ordinary 6b – 11-February-24”
Sometimes it's important to work out of faith, just between God and ourselves, as Jesus did in the reading for today. But our faith doesn't do much when it's just between God and us. Faith thrives in community. We see the depth and power of our faith when we're serving others.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Epiphany 5b – 4-February-24”
Jesus can be quite amazing, but he can also be quite challenging. For instance, people were amazed at the authority with which he spoke, but his ideas of power and authority challenge our coercive understanding of power at its core.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Epiphany 4b – 28-January-24”
When Jesus said, "The Realm of God is near," he meant that people would see God's ways in the things that he did and in what he taught. People would be able to know God by what Jesus did and learn how to truly serve God by what Jesus taught.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation (Gospel) for Epiphany 3b – 21-January-24”
The gospel story for today is one of the stories about Jesus gathering his disciples. As the organization grew from one itinerant preacher to 12 and the 70 and then thousands, the needs for the Church also grew.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Epiphany 2b – 14-January-24”
As we remember both Jesus' baptism and our own today, we consider what it means to dedicate our lives to serving God and others in the way of Jesus. One of the things it means is supporting this congregation through our abilities, our time, and our financial resources.… Read the rest “Alternate Offering Meditation for Baptism of Christ B – 7-January-24”
The gifts that the wisemen brought may seem exotic to us, gold, incense, oil, but they were actually quite practical for a family on the move in those days. All of them could be exchanged for money in any marketplace they visited, and the money could go for food, shelter, and other necessities.… Read the rest “Offering Meditation for Epiphany B – 7-January-24”