If not the Television it is social media or peer pressure from others that keeps calling you. While we do need things of the world, we should remember that they do not make us who we are.
Read MorePaul’s letters to the Corinthians were a call to them to get along with each other. Faith was not a contest. NO one was better at it than another. All had been given gifts of the Spirit. Those gifts were not for self-improvement but were to be used in the world to share God’s love with others.
Read MoreWhile there are people who seem to think that only certain people can be Christian or that Christians need to gather only with themselves and let the world go where it will go, that is not God’s intent nor Jesus’ call to pick up your cross and follow him.
Read MoreHebrews is a midrash (or commentary) on Psalm 110. Using that psalm as his starting point the writer of Hebrews is redefining the understanding of who the Messiah is and how the Messiah will save God’s people.
Read MoreLike all memories, those of Christmas are a mix of joy and sadness. They are not always an accurate account of what really happened. Nor are they complete. That is true of the first Christmas – Mary had memories of that first Christmas. Luke tells us she “treasured these words and pondered them in her heart.” Yet, it was not always an easy memory to have. She still had to raise Jesus and his siblings. There was also a time when she went to bring him home after hearing from others that he was acting crazy. Then there is the time she stood at the base of his cross.
Read MoreChristmas is a time of many rules. Children are threatened with them. Adults are haunted by them. We all want this time to be a joyful time. Sometimes we, in that attempt, make it a time of depression.
Read MorePaul is not telling us that we will not (or cannot) have disagreements. He is telling us that we handle the disagreements differently than the world does because we handle them with love. He also is not saying that we are not to get angry. He certainly got angry. So did Jesus. But, again, he is telling us that we are called to use our anger for positive things.
Read MoreWe confess that we have been made ready not by our own actions but by the work of Jesus. What then does Jesus mean when he tells us to be ready for the coming of the Son of Man?
Read MoreLook around you. We seem to be living in a selfish age. Just turn on the television and listen to the advertisements. There you are constantly being told that you deserve what you have and then more. (Although it is only someone trying to get you to give them your money.) We hear those words so often and desire it so much that we begin to believe that what we have is ours and ours alone. It is not. All that you have is God’s. God has gifted you with it so that you may take care of it and use it to share God’s love with the world.
Read MoreFor some, [the] promise of the future gets in the way of living for today.
Read MoreI know that we all have bad days and that life is not always easy. I also know that much of our problem comes from our own actions and decisions. When life is easy we become complacent and forget God who made us and gave us life. In seminary, the African students always joked that they should send missionaries to the United States since we, in comparison to them, have a lower church membership.
Read MoreGod allows us to forget the bad things that happen and remember the good things. That is why the past seems better than the present. We have forgotten the struggles and pains of those times. What we need is to look forward to a change in our lives – we need a reformation.
Read MoreWhen God rejects this repentance as false, Jeremiah then (in the part of the text we did not read) tries to excuse the people pointing out that there were many false prophets telling them what they wanted to hear. God rejects this argument out of hand and refuses to budge because the people had forgotten God while times were good and have only returned when drought and violence threatens.
Read MoreNow, if God can use that flawed family to enact God’s plans, God certainly can use us. We too struggle with God, have cheated, worked to be the favorite, and striven to better ourselves at the expense of others. But for us the table has been turned. We no longer have to demand that God bless us.
Read MoreWe note that this only happened because Naaman’s servants convinced him to swallow his own pride and that of his nation, and wash in the Jordan river. How often have you seen others miss opportunities because of their pride?
Read MoreHabakkuk is asking the age-old question, “Why God, if you are good, do you allow evil to happen?” The Jews were certainly asking that question in the light of the Greek oppression. It is a question that we ask also. Why do the evil prosper while the good suffer? Unfortunately there is no easy answer to this question.
Read MoreTheir sin was that they had forgotten the poor, the widow, orphan, and alien in their land. Instead of taking care of them they used their wealth to live luxurious lives and, as we saw last week, even exploited the poor to increase their own wealth.
Read MoreGod calls us to a different life. We are called, just as Amos was, to work for justice where all people -- not just the ones who are wealthy, who look like us, or just citizens – share in the gifts of God. Gifts that you have received in abundance.
Read MoreWhile the world bustles about trying to hurry things along, we are able to look to Jesus who is the way and the truth and the life of the world. As Paul reminds us, we live in Jesus’ time who calls us to imitate him – as he was patient with us, we are called to be patient with others.
Read MoreThis desire to avoid decisions becomes all inclusive of our lives. He reminds us of how totalitarian states come about. People, afraid of losing their things, family, and selves will latch onto someone who claims he or she is the best person to be in charge because they will protect those things. People believe this and support that person and, when it’s too late, learns their promise wasn’t true.
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