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”
Sometimes, as Jesus did in our gospel verse for today, it is important to be alone with God. Other times, it is impossible (or at least difficult) to see God at work and to hear God speak without being in the presence of other believers. … Read the rest “Table Meditation (Gospel) for Epiphany 5b – 4-February-24”
When something is really important to listen to, what do you do? How can you be sure you can hear that one thing? [Wait for answers]
I'd say the most important thing to do to make sure you can really hear is not be paying attention to a lot of other things at the same time.… Read the rest “Children’s Moment (Gospel) for Ordinary 5b – 4-February-24”
What happens when you learn something new? How do you act? What do you do? [wait for responses]
The story from the gospel today is about Jesus teaching and how people were amazed at what he said and how he spoke.… Read the rest “Children’s Moment (Gospel) for Epiphany 4b – 28-January-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”
A lot of interesting things happen when people see Jesus. For those who stood and learned from him at the synagogue, there was the sheer amazement of his teaching with authority. For the demonic presence, there was outright fear. … Read the rest “Table Meditation (Gospel) 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”
In the gospel of Mark, Jesus begins his earthly ministry with "The kingdom of God has come near." or "The kingdom of God is at hand." In our lives as Christians, one of the great privileges is to catch glimpses of the kingdom of God as it comes near. … Read the rest “Table Meditation (Gospel) for Epiphany 3b – 21-January-24”
When I was a boy, my dad built a train table in our basement. It was a simple set up, with a few switches and a few buildings and a depot. When friends came over, we could play with the trains on that table, but I couldn't bring the trains and especially couldn't bring the table over to my friends houses.… Read the rest “Children’s Moment (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”