~ Luke 4:14 – 21/Leviticus 25:1, 8-10/Isaiah 61:1-3 ~ Sound the trumpet! [Trumpet fanfare sounded] Jesus has come home to Nazareth. It’s the Sabbath and Jesus goes to the synagogue. He stands to read from the Isaiah scroll. It is the kind of moment that evokes the feeling of a … Read More
~ John 2:1 – 11; Psalm 36 ~ Even though I think it’s quite important, I’ve done enough weddings in my time to realize that my part is just a tiny bit of the whole thing called a wedding. As much as I lament the thought, I have come to … Read More
~ Luke 3:15-17, 21-22/Isaiah 43:1-3 ~ Here it begins – the baptism of Jesus. The last few weeks –looking forward to Jesus birth in Advent and then the actual celebration of his birth at Christmas – it’s as if all of that were just a prelude. As far as the … Read More
~ Matthew 2:1-12 / Isaiah 60:1-6 ~ The stories of Christmas are resplendent with light. In Luke, the night is filled with light, as angels bring the good news of great joy in the radiance of the glory of the Lord: “And the glory of the Lord shone all around … Read More
~ Luke 2:41-52 ~ My first job out of college was with an evangelistic youth ministry in Denver, CO, called “Youth for Christ.” I worked in the Youth Guidance program in which teens on probation were referred to me through the juvenile court system. I was a street worker in … Read More
~ Christmas Eve 2015 ~ There’s an old Irish custom in which each household would leave a lighted candle in their window on Christmas Eve. Indeed, it is a custom many still follow today. There was this belief that Joseph and Mary and the Child still wandered the roads of … Read More