Temptation to Imagination

Luke 4:1-13 What does it mean for you to be yourself? Think about that for a moment. What does it mean for you to be yourself? For Christians, the season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday. Lent is a period of 40 days [not counting Sundays]. The forty days of Lent is about one tenth […]

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The Lighthouse

Luke 21:25-28   NRSV There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. […]

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It’s Good to be a Kid!

Mark 9:30-37 Fear. It is a feeling that all of us have. Fear is programmed into us. That’s okay, though, because fear is actually meant to protect us. We are born with a sense of fear so we can react to things or situations that could be dangerous or harmful to our emotional or physical […]

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Consumed by Life

John 6:35-44; 48-51 Bienaventurado el que no cambia el sueño de su vida por el pan de cada día. Blessed are those who do not exchange the dreams of their lives for their daily bread. ―Facundo Cabral, Argentina Daily bread is the thing we all need to survive. We need to eat. Sadly, because we’re […]

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Signs in All of Life

John 6:1-21 There is a good quote from the movie Signs, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. This is said during a scene in which a Pennsylvania family has just learned that creatures from another planet have started descending on earth. Their spaceships light up the sky all over the world. The father in […]

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Love at the Core of Being

Psalm 85:1-8; 10 I want to begin with a question. How many of you feel that your definition of who God is comes mostly from: What your parents or family raised you to believe? Or: From the Bible? Or: From a church? Or: From a spiritual or enlightening experience? Or: From personal life experience? Perhaps […]

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Moving Forward after Rejection

Mark 6:1-13  Have you ever been rejected? Sure you have! Wasn’t it great? Just kidding. Rejection stinks. I remember being rejected when I was thirteen. I wanted to sing. I loved music. I sang in the school choir. But my music teacher told me personally once, in front of some other students, that music wasn’t […]

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Emmanuel AME: Just Be. And Be Not Afraid

Mark 4:35-41 This is an excerpt from an article written for the Huffington Post by Rev. Otis Moss, III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. The doors of the church are [still] open. The question running through the minds of many African Americans, particularly black church folks is where and when will […]

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New Things, Beautiful and Changed

Mark 2:21-22   Have you  moved a lot in your life? I know I have. I have way too many memories of packing up stuff and cleaning out an apartment, a dorm room, or a house. That’s the worst part of moving, isn’t? Each time I moved, I had to come to that awful, eye-opening revelation […]

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What Would You Do with a Bag of Money?

Matthew 25:14-30 Let’s keep it simple. This Matthew parable is often talked about in Christian circles, but very rarely understood. So let’s keep it simple: What would you do with a bag of money? Does that sound like a weird question to be asking? Actually, it isn’t all that strange. I’m sure at one point […]

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