Tuesday, June 23, 2015

A Tale of Two Approaches to Jesus

                           
                                    
Mark 5:21-43
This reading could lead to a sermon entitled "A Tale of Two Daughters" but I am rather going to call it "A Tale of Two Approaches to Jesus" ... both titles lead to the same good news, namely: He is within reach.

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Jesus Calmed the Storm JUST by Speaking

This week's lectionary readings take us to David facing Goliath, Paul laying his credentials before the Corinthians and Jesus dealing with a storm the same way He deals with demons, telling it to shut up.
Here are this week's readings:

Friday, June 12, 2015

The Kingdom of God is like the worst weed you can imagine!!!

To understand the provocative title of my sermon, we need to understand that the Kingdom of God is completely different from any other kingdom on earth and is different from any kingdom that you and I could ever think of. Although he uses these words in a different context, when Paul writes that "The old has gone, the new is here!"  (2Cor5:17), he is speaking to the reality that the Kingdom of God on earth is radically different to any other kingdom and those who live in God's Kingdom now, on earth, are a radically different people. God's thoughts are not our thoughts, neither are God's ways our ways ... Isaiah 55:8-9 ... which means that when we become God's people through Christ and living in the power of the Holy Spirit our thoughts are no longer like the thoughts of the people around us and our ways are no longer like the ways of the world. We are radically different ... "The old has gone, the new is here!"

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Seed and Mustard Weed


This week's lectionary readings are beauties. Samuel (and we) discover that "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." The Gospel readings have more of Jesus' seed parables, the growing seed and the mustard seed (weed). Jesus compares the kingdom of God with a crop from seeds randomly scattered. Then he compares it with the seed of mustard weed, which, in fact, no one would try to plant at all. Both are parables in the truest sense. They mess with our usual ways of thinking about things and leave us perplexed, scratching our heads, if we hear them carefully and take them seriously. Now, the Old Testament, Gospel and Epistle readings are not meant to compliment each other, but Paul certainly sums things up with "The old has gone, the new is here!"
Here are this week's readings: