~ Luke 3:1-6/Luke 1:68-79/Malachi 3:1-2 ~ Our third scripture lesson for today is taken from Luke 1:68-79. It’s called the Benedictus (which is Latin for “blessed”). The Benedictus is the prophecy pronounced by Zechariah upon the birth of his son, John the Baptist. The church has included the Benedictus in … Read More
~ Jeremiah 33:14-16/Luke 21:25-36 ~ Today is the First Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the time of preparation for Christmas; the coming of the Christ child. However, the makers of the scriptural lectionary, the collection of texts that we in the Reformed Tradition rely through the church year, did … Read More
John 18:33-37/Revelation 1:4-8 Who is Jesus? On this last Sunday of the church liturgical year, Reign of Christ Sunday, figuring out who is Jesus becomes a bit more pertinent since it is all tied up in this “reigning” issue. As the image on the front of our bulletin suggests, the … Read More
~ Mark 13:1-2 ~ As a result of my many years of ministry I have come to realize that there is a connection, a spiritual connection, between the people of the church and the building of the church. So much so that I’ve developed what I call “a theology of … Read More
~ Mark 12:38-44/Psalm 146 ~ Last Sunday, in our observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day and Día de los Muertos, I talked about some of the differences between these observances. When it came to “saints” I noted that these were people of the past that were particularly … Read More
Every religious and cultural tradition in history has a way of dealing with the difficult issue of death. Our scripture readings today are two examples from our Christian tradition. The gospel of John story of Jesus and Lazarus suggests that it is possible to bring someone back from the dead, … Read More