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Your Faith Has Saved You; Go in PeaceRev. Jeff CrewsJun 16 2013 |
Our Gospel story today is a familiar one. All of the Gospels have this story of a woman anointing Jesus’ feet, but Luke’s story, as he is wont to do, weaves a tale with multiple layers of meaning and teaching about who is in and who is out of the Realm of God. Our first surprise in this passage comes in the first sentence. One of the Pharisees invites Jesus to eat with him. Wow. This must be a good Pharisee to break with the increasing discomfort of the religious elite and actually ask Jesus over for...
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Flowing into ServiceRev. Clare RobertJun 9 2013 |
“Flowing into Service”
The young people who are to be confirmed today are budding theologians. Over the course of the six months we met together they had to consider many topics in a short time frame. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. Who wrote the Bible? Was it God, or humans inspired by God, or humans alone? What are some of the metaphors for God? Can it be proven that God exists?
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Encounters with WisdomKara ScrogginsMay 26 2013 |
“Listen up!”
Says Jesus to his disciples.
“Things are about to get complicated.”
Oh really, Jesus?
Like everything up til now has been a straightforward walk in the park?
“You can’t handle what I have to say to you,
So I’m going to send along a spirit of truth.”
Okay, a spirit.
“That settles it then,” says Jesus,
“Over and out.”
Um.
Is this a self-identifying spirit?
Will we know it when we see it?
What does it look like?
What does it sound...
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Gifted DiversityRev. Jeff CrewsMay 19 2013 |
Do you think these passages today are about new birth, or are they about widening and broadening of humanity? At Pentecost last year, we considered these passages in the context of birth stories, but this year I would like to consider them in the context of the broadening diversity of God’s world and God’s children. Both of our passages today engage the meta-story of how the Oneness of God becomes the Manyness of the universe. And while the stories of Pentecost and the Tower of Babel are about expansion and variation, they...
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How Can I Be Saved?Rev. Jeff CrewsMay 12 2013 |
Our passage from Acts tells a story of Paul and Silas in Philippi proclaiming the Gospel. Luke, the author of the Book of the Acts, is a great story-teller, and our passage today is one of his best stories. Just as Jesus’ birth narrative by Luke is a story with many layers of meaning, so too, is our passage today. And while our story contains fortune-telling slave girls, earthquakes and jailers ready to commit suicide, it also contains many layers of meaning about God’s saving work in the world. As I pondered this...
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A Healing QuestionRev. Clare RobertMay 5 2013
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We are coming to the end of the Easter season. Jesus has appeared to the disciples in a number of settings, including an appearance to Thomas, who doubted and then believed, and to the disciples at various times, at the lakeshore, for breakfast, and while fishing.
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A New Covenant and A New CreationRev. Jeff CrewsApr 28 2013
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Glory. Our culture is saturated in people seeking glory. Every TV show or movie is full of actors seeking glory. Athletes seek fame, fortune and glory. Politicians and business leaders all are chasing after power and glory. Mass murderers seek glory, terrorists and bombers seek notoriety and glory. We are a culture and world clawing for glory, it seems.
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Laity Sunday SermonLaurel LasterApr 21 2013
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Jesus asks Simon Peter three times. Do you love me? And three times he instructs Simon Peter to watch over his flock.
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Laity Sunday SermonMichael PalmieriApr 21 2013
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Will you pray with me? May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
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A New CreationRev. Jeff CrewsApr 14 2013 |
How can we engage this difficult-to-believe dramatic story about Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus? Is this story historical fact or a metaphorical story designed to help us understand the profound depth of Saul’s re-naming experience? Names were very important in the ancient world. A person’s name was their bond, their oath, their identity, their ID, their passport. When we say in the Lord’s Prayer, “hallowed be thy name;” we mean that God’s name is sanctified, consecrated, or set...
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