Before Jesus leaves the earth he does something very important — he sends out his disciples to be his witnesses. What does this mean? Acts 16 and the story of Paul in jail gives a wonderful image.
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Today we meet a seeker, that is someone who is hungry for the truth of Jesus, but has not yet found it. She is purple because she is a dealer in purple cloth, someone very rich, in fact. How did it all work out that the Gospel came to her?
Jesus gives his love commission: “Love one another as I have loved you; by this they will know that you are my disciples when you love each other.” Grounded in Christ’s love, we endeavor, as a congregtion, to love each other but also our neighbor. How do we do?
Today Zion’s votes on whether to go ahead with renovations to the Social Hall to celebrate our 275th anniversary. This past week our nation was rocked by the Boston bombing. And then we have the story of Ananias and Paul. How do all of these fit together?
After his resurrection, Jesus meets two of his key followers, Paul and Peter. Their encounters with Jesus change them. Both show the sides of God’s love, a love that humbles us and a love that builds us back up.
This Easter news is met with much doubt and confusion. This is true in our lives too — what do we make of this news? The good news of Easter isn’t simply that Jesus is risen from the dead, but that Jesus is risen in spite of our doubts; that Jesus is risen even if we aren’t ready for it!
This Easter morning, we have a confirmation, a time when a young person confirms their baptism. This Easter morning we also talk about the death and resurrection nature of Baptism. To put it bluntly: Easter’s news of resurrection comes to us in our Baptism. And Easter’s news is that we will live forever. So what are we afraid of?
As we conclude our series on “Lost and Found”, we turn away from our loss as individuals to our collective loss. We are lost, I would say, as a church. We are unsure of the way forward in a pluralistic and post-modern world. Yet all is not lost. We still have Jesus.
The lost son (or prodigal son) is THE best story of Jesus. We ponder its meaning for us — are we more like the lost son, who is overwhlemed by God’s grace, or are we more like the older son, who is upset with the mercy of God?
The lost coin is a small parable with a big meaning. As we explore the lost parables, we focus on how we can, like the lost coin, get lost in our own homes.