Ingredients for Worship
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Struggling with Our Sins in Prayer
The Narrative Lectionary on May 17, 2015 is Romans 6:1-14 where it boldly claims, “So you must consider yourself dead to sin and alive in God and Jesus Christ.” My first instinct is to start singing along with Bon Jovi but it really has… Continue reading
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Prayers for the Presence of Hope
The Narrative Lectionary on May 10, 2015 is Romans 5:1-11. Of this passage, Karl Barth claims in his great work The Epistle to the Romans: Love is what endures of our endurance, which is proved in our probation; it is the hope in our… Continue reading
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Preaching Without a Community Text
For the first time in months, I’ve spent Monday morning studying. I haven’t been in the pulpit for nearly three months but on Sunday I will preach. I will preach at a church I’ve visited just once. It’s a church… Continue reading
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Faith and Belief Right Now
The Narrative Lectionary on May 3, 2015 is Romans 1:1-17. The first Sunday in May was the particular Sunday that my home church always celebrated the Confirmation of its youngest members. J.R. Daniel Kirk comments that the thesis of this letter in verses… Continue reading
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Praying to Really, Truly Be the Body of Christ Together
The Narrative Lectionary on April 26, 2015 is Acts 13:1-3; 14:8-18. There is something that transpires here between Paul and the man who could not use his feet. The man listens — intensely, it seems — to all that Paul has… Continue reading
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What We Must Say and Do
Over the weekend, I saw Woman in Gold. Throughout the film, even in the most subtle of moments, there is this question about how an individual or a nation participates in Nazism. Is it just something that happened? Are our… Continue reading
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Affirmation of the Resurrection
The Narrative Lectionary on April 12, 2015 is Matthew 28:16-20. It feels so odd not to share in the story of Thomas. I want to stick my fingers in that story. I want to wonder about my doubt. But, that’s not what happens… Continue reading
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Let It Live
After that last supper, after the disciples have deserted and one of them has betrayed all that he once believed to be true, after the one they had been following died the most horrible death one might have imagined then,… Continue reading
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Palm Parade
This Sunday brings the palms. Call it a parade.Call it a procession.Call it a protest. People expect to wave palms happily in the air before the resurrection is proclaimed next week. Pastors struggle with this. This is the week that… Continue reading
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Blurring the Lines
So often, when we hear these words in Matthew 25:31-46, we focus on the actions for which we might be judged: the feeding, the visiting, the quenching of the thirst, the caring for the sick. We focus on the least… Continue reading
Cooking with Elsa 