TagBaptism

Mushroom Grace

It seemed to show up in my lawn overnight and got very comfortable … very quickly.  It wasn’t a miraculous arrival, but it seemed like it.  It enjoyed a couple of days of hospitality, but was then banished to salad-bar fodder for the squirrels and other denizens of our unruly lawn, after I cut the…

Let the Triune God Resolve Divisions

New Day Sermon Pentecost 3 Divisions can cause all kinds of problems. In Mark 3, Jesus says unity is threatened by divisions. A House divided is destined to fall. One can look at fear being a major underlying reason for divisions to surface. One way to resolve divisions is to turn to the Triune God…

Third Sunday of Pentecost Worship Preview

And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:34) A house divided against itself cannot stand. Jesus makes this observation in light of charges that he is possessed. He is possessed, not…

Water People

EMAIL DEVOTION week of LENT 3 Jesus answered, ‘Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (John 3:5) So if you are not sure what those little buggers are in the cover picture … well … they are earthworms. More properly, they “were”…

It’s Electric!

traditional sermon baptism of our lord Has anyone noticed a certain little thing that is happening these days. You’re in your car and you park it, turn it off, open the door, get out, go to close the door and ZAP! You’re watching tv, get up from the couch to go get a tasty snack…

Baptism of Our Lord Preview

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.” -Mark 1:11 In today’s Gospel reading we encounter the story of Jesus’ baptism. For the Gospel writer Mark, this is the beginning, where things get really exciting. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus, the heavens are ripped…

In God we Trust

traditional sermon pentecost 20 It is a question you have heard, no doubt, and maybe even spoken it yourself.  Usually it is voiced when you find yourself in a crowded and somewhat chaotic location – an amusement park … a busy playground … a toy store two weeks before Christmas.  You see a child wandering…

By Water and the Word

EMAIL DEVOTIONAL WEEK OF Pentecost 19 What does such baptizing with water signify?  It signifies that the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, again, a new man daily come forth and arise; who shall live before God in righteousness and…