There’s Got to be Another Way!

Luke 13:31-35 Let’s do something different. Bear with me here. Go back in your memory to a specific date, time of day, place, and an event in which you saw the symbol of the cross. Stand in that place. What do you see? What do you hear? Be specific. Pay attention to what you are […]

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A Trusting Identity: We Are a People of Continuing Testament

Luke 4:1-13      These 40 days of Lent is a time to reflect on identity. Who am I? Who is God? Who is my neighbor? Who are we? Whenever we look deeply at our own identity, if we are open, we can even surprise ourselves. We can find out something new that we didn’t recognize before. […]

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The Start of Lent

Isaiah 58:3–12      Fast Actions In 2011 and 2012, more than 10,000 people participated in the Ecumenical Lenten Carbon Fast, sponsored by the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ. Each day, participants [including me] received an email with one concrete suggestion for the day, an action that would lessen their carbon footprint. Leadership of […]

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Fully Awake

Luke 9:28-43 So the other day I was walking down the street in University City in Philadelphia, on my way to a meeting. It was cold [of course] and so people were hurrying to class, work, or wherever they needed to go without hesitating one bit. Who could blame them? It was cold. I admit […]

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The Connecting-Disrupting Love

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 One of the countries I visited in January with my life partner Maria is an often misunderstood place. Nicaragua is the largest Central American country on the isthmus. It sits right above Costa Rica and below Honduras. Nicaragua is beautiful–full of volcanoes, unique architecture, incredible beaches, and an eye-opening diversity of wildlife […]

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An Inaugural Address

Luke 4:14-21 Just a few weeks ago, Maria and I found ourselves in the crazy, huge city of Panama City, of course, the capitol city of Panama, the southernmost country in Central America. Panama is situated on the isthmus that connects North and South America; it is bordered by Costa Rica [remember the Ticos and […]

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