Relating, Creating, Transforming
Mark 7:1-7; 14,15 You ever hear this before: It’s what’s on the inside that counts! You know what it means, right? That your outward appearance is less important than your personality. Or, to take it a step further, that your SOUL [your whole self] is THE most important thing. If that’s what you get out […]
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Luke 15:1-10 Empathy. Do you practice it? Do you experience it with others? What is empathy to you? For me, a simple definition of empathy is when I can imagine what another person is thinking or feeling—not like reading their mind, but just imagining what they think and/or feel, even if I have never experienced […]
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Luke 7:36 – 8:3 Frederick Buechner[1] wrote: You never know what may cause tears. The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. You can never be sure. But of this you can be sure. Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially […]
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Luke 19:28-40 Peace sayings from various traditions Hindu tradition Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real, from darkness to light, from death to immortality. God’s peace, peace, peace to all. Buddhist tradition May all beings everywhere be happy, Peaceful, and free. Jain tradition Peace and universal love is the essence of all […]
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Luke 15:11-33 From the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scriptures: To practice forgiveness is fasting, good conduct and contentment. Dispelled is anger as forgiveness is grasped. Where there is forgiveness, There God resides. Perhaps there is no more-recognizable story from the New Testament Gospels than the story of the prodigal son. You could make a […]
Read MoreMatthew 22:15-22 Lions and tigers and bears—oh my! But in this case, it’s money and religion and politics—oh my! Yes, that’s right. It’s time to talk about these SCARY things. It IS almost Halloween, after all. Let’s talk about money, first, which leads to politics, which leads to religion! Jesus of Nazareth probably wouldn’t be […]
Read MoreMatthew 15:10-28 This week I was taking with a guy I know who works in a store that I shop in frequently. He and I always have funny or interesting conversations. This time, we were joking about his nickname and his favorite superhero, and then, he told me an unexpected story that I will now […]
Read MoreJohn 9:1-41 The Temptation, Hugo van der Goes, 1470 What is sin? Man, what a complicated question that is! Of course, there is no way to address such a question in a short time. But it will be helpful to start with the English word itself and work backwards. So let’s do some etymology of […]
Read MoreLuke 20:27-38 NRSV Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; […]
Read MoreLuke 18:9-14, NRSV He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I […]
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