AuthorVicar Nancy Brody

Vicar, 2018-2019
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Nancy Brody was called to serve as pastor of Messiah Parish in Halifax, PA. Her congregations are named Messiah Lutheran Church (Fisherville) and St. Peter (Fetterhoff’s).

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Regard for Suffering

“We must learn to regard people less in light of what they do or omit to do, and move in light of what they suffer.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer
This quote reminds me everyday of Christ’s compassion and consideration for all parties, which is why it hangs where I must see it.

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Do I Really Have to Read the Manual?

What Comes as Standard Equipment for Anyone Calling Themselves a Christian? As you know, today is Trinity Sunday. And since my husband and I recently got a new car and I’ve been trying to read the manual, I’d like us to consider what safety features come as standard equipment in the most basic model. Not…

Always

How excited I was to find two apps that would really come in handy. One was a sleep timer for music and the other was a fitness monitor. As it turned out, I never installed either one. I could not accept the terms and conditions of use. In today’s passage, Jesus asks for obedience (willingness to accept God’s terms) in order for us to gain the most benefit from the presence of God’s Holy Spirit. It’s absolutely free.

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If……………, and [then]…

Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, they will obey [keep] my word, and my Father will love them, and [then] we will come to them and take up residence with [remain in] them. The person who does not love me does not obey [keep] my words.” John 14: 23-24 A reply that begins with the…

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“Did You Happen to Find Your Keys?”

There’s a set of keys offered to us in today’s gospel text that we (and the disciples) are challenged to find: the key to knowing peace rather than fear, the key to being able to trust another person, and the key to offering forgiveness. Finding the keys to discipleship is a necessary step in our quest to travel down the road.

Cost versus Value

We are very familiar with the scene and the characters in today’s gospel. We think we know them. There is much that has been said regarding them. But, none of the details in the story irrefutably support the theories.Theories that have long been perpetuated about who, where and when this scene takes place. Therefore, I…

Essential Oil

As a Christian, are you more pragmatic or compassionate? Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him) said, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?” He said this not because he cared… John 12:4-6. Characters in the Bible sometimes…

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Ashes

God is great at teaching through paradoxes, things that at first, seem totally absurd. Jesus does his best to explain how they are true. The contradictory proposition of Ash Wednesday is how ashes not only cleanse, but prepare space to light a new fire.