Living in the Upside Down

Isaiah 64:4-6; 8, 9b    Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Go. You come to the help of those who gladly do right, who remember your ways. But when we continued to sin against […]

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Authority: Listening and Trusting

Matthew 21:23-32 When I was in middle school I went to summer camp once. I remember bits and pieces of my experience there, and one thing I remember distinctly is a certain “game” the camp counselors had us play called a trust fall. Now I’m sure a lot of you have at least heard of […]

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Forming Community

Matthew 14:13-21 What does the word/concept of “community” mean to you? It can seem a broad term, community, right? If you move into a suburban neighborhood, does that mean you are in a community? If you to the Community Center Shopping Mall does that mean you are in a community? What if we get more […]

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Thrice Love

Matthew 28:16-20  NRSV Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all […]

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Sacred Connections

John 17:6-11 NRSV Perhaps you’ve heard of a little movie called Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. One particular character in the story is called Chirrut Îmwe (played by Donnie Yen). Chirrut says a mantra throughout the film: I am one with the force and the force is with me. He repeats this phrase over […]

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Community within, Community Expressed

Sense8 is an original TV series streaming on Netflix, created by the Wachowskis, the two people behind the Matrix trilogy. Sense8, a play on the sensate, tells the story of eight strangers: Capheus, Sun, Nomi, Kala, Riley, Wolfgang, Lito and Will, each from a different culture and part of the world. As the story develops, […]

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What Gives You Life?

John 10:1-10 I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the intersection of religion and politics. Now before you run away after hearing this, please hear me out. I know some of us prefer to avoid that conversation, but I think it’s really important to address it. Religion and politics have been intertwined ever since human […]

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Who Do You Meet on the Road?

Luke 24     Not that long ago if we needed to walk, drive, or take public transportation to a place we asked other people how to get there. Then, we used paper maps. After that, we typed the address into a computer and printed out Mapquest directions. Remember that? Then the GPS with the somewhat […]

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Wind, Water, and Life in Desolation

Ezekiel 37:1-10 NRSV Have you ever felt like you were in a place of desolation? In other words, when have you felt hopeless, stranded, parched from thirst, empty? Part of our humanity is in recognizing that we do have these low moments—periods of time when we just don’t know if we can continue living. We […]

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Do You Know Your H2O?

John 4:5-15 A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia’s Dare to Understand Awards event. The featured speaker was Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago. I have met with Eboo various times and consider him to be one of my mentors. He inspired […]

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