Proverbs 17:2 says A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. I know that there is a lot of serious things going on in the world, and maybe some of you came here today with a heavy heart. There are lots of things to be sad and concerned […]
The women had every good reason to go to the garden tomb early that morning on the first day of the week. They had a job to do; They couldn’t have gone any sooner, since it was inappropriate to go on the Sabbath to the place where a dead body was placed. They went as […]
Eight years ago, I stood in front of the community of faith that raised me and was ordained into ministry. It was on a Palm Sunday. And this passage – Luke’s telling of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem – was the Scripture we read together at that ordination service. Ever since then, I’ve had the blessing, […]
Scholar and activist, Loretta J. Ross, starts her 2021 TED Talk with a purposely shocking declaration that she is present at the Monterey, CA TED conference because (and I quote), “Most black women don’t go to Ku Klux Klan rallies on purpose,” which is the work she does that caught the attention of the organization. […]
Pastor, educator, and theologian Rodger Nishioka tells a story about studying the Parable of the Lost Sheep while participating in an ecumenical dialogue with members of the Russian Orthodox Church. He made reference to the parable by that name with his conversation partners and it derailed things for a little bit as the group tried […]
I mentioned when I first preached here at First Presbyterian Church in Allentown, that I’m not one to let an introductory clause go when it kicks off a passage of scripture. That Sunday morning in January the text we read from Isaiah began, “But now thus says the Lord,” begging the question. “What did this […]
Through a lens of mercy There was a conversation this week in an internet forum for church leaders, that was centered around safety training and devices, like automated external defibrillators (or AEDs), and whether or not a church should have one. One commenter was worried that if the church had one, but it’s use was […]
Have you ever had an experience that changed you forever? A moment where you saw the world or yourself differently? Maybe it was standing in the mountains, looking out at a vast horizon that made you feel both small and deeply connected to something greater. Maybe it was holding a newborn baby, realizing the weight […]
Is there anything you don’t like about Jesus? When asking this question to our youth or to our eldest of members, when asking Jesus’ most committed of disciples to those who still on the fence, when asking a more traditional style of worshipper or a more contemporary style of worshipper, there seems to be a […]
These past two weeks, I have switched the lectionary and order of two passages in Luke 4 – for reasons that I think will be clearer later. Last week, we focused on the reactions to Jesus’ first sermon in his home-town synagogue. This week we will focus on the sermon itself. Perhaps, in the terminology […]
One of my favorite moments on any given Sunday is the chance to greet people at the end of the service: to literally “press flesh” and touch base with people in person with people. Even that brief interaction always does my spirits good. And, it was one of the things I missed most when we […]