Our thanks to Brendan Armitage for writing this week’s devotion. We just don’t know much, do we? We’ve heard cries of “fake news”. We’ve been told that the pandemic may be over…or not. That business may reopen soon…or not. That the college my son intends to matriculate at this Fall may start him on his…
We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies. For while we live, we are always being given up to…
Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it. ~~Hebrews 13:2 (NRSV) I’m not much for the Book of Hebrews. I’ve never been enamored by the lofty language, the implied superiority of New Testament teaching over the Old Testament foundations for Jesus’ ministry, and the…
Traditional Sermon Pentecost 9 What are you afraid of? We’re all afraid of something. Maybe you have nyctophobia, a fear of darkness or arachnophobia, a fear of spiders. Maybe your fear is a little more unusual like Arachibutyrophobia – the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth. I know for a…
This week’s devotion is written by Emily, a student at Pepperdine University. This devotion was offered by one of our church staff members yesterday at our all-staff meeting. It came to us through an extended family member who is Emily’s teacher. Yesterday was the one-month mark. Almost exactly a month ago I was trapped in…
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.
New Day Sermon Lent 1 Trust can be hard. Who do you trust? How well do you trust God? In what ways does God invite us into a trust walk this Lenten season?
New Day Sermon Epiphany 5 Do you get busy working, or do you sit down and listen? Jesus wants you to do both, in this lesson about fishing and discipleship, before our favorite fishermen had been called as disciples.
New Day Sermon Pentecost 25 A modest glitch in our recording software lost two minutes of the sermon introduction. The introduction simply set the table for why this pastor loves when the story of the Widow of Zarepheth shows up as one of the assigned lessons for a Sunday service in stewardship. The sermon picks…
New Day Sermon Pentecost 17 Circumstances drive us. We often deal with the now, by contemplating our past or future. Concerns persist until “the time” arrives. What will you do next? Hold on; let go; or let God?
