Today is the first Sunday in Lent. We begin a 40 day journey that will conclude with the events of Holy Week, the betrayal of Jesus, his arrest, his trial, his crucifixion and of course, at Easter, his resurrection. This year our theme for Lent is, “When they see us, do they see Jesus?” Read more →

In the church calendar we mark the end of the season of Epiphany on Transfiguration Sunday, which is today. Epiphany, you may recall, from the sermon I gave at the joint worship service at the end of the year, is a manifestation, a vision, the revelation and revealing of God as human in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Read more →

Hansen’s Disease is a condition caused by bacteria which can result in skin sores, nerve damage and muscle weakness that can worsen over time. It is not very contagious and occurs in many countries in the world in temperate, tropical and subtropical climates. Hansen’s Disease has been around for a very long time. In biblical times it was known by another name, leprosy. Read more →

Today we come to the last of our movies in our Reel Theology series. The movie is Parasite and it’s a Korean movie, the first Korean movie to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, along with 5 other Oscar nominations. The word parasite comes from two Greek words, “para,” meaning alongside, and “sitos,” meaning food. So, the technical, original meaning would have been “to eat at another’s table. Read more →

This morning we return to our series on Oscar nominated movies, except that the movie I’ve chosen for today isn’t actually nominated for any Academy Awards. That’s too bad because it is really a good movie and it features some fine actors. Read more →

Today we had the privilege of having the Moderator of the 2019 General Assembly, the Rev. Amanda Currie, participate in worship. A link to her sermon can be found here. Read more →

I can’t recall how many weddings I have officiated at and used the text just read from Paul’s first letter to the Christians in Corinth. It’s called the love chapter and contains some of the most famous words from all of scripture. Read more →

This morning I want to begin our series of sermons on what I hope to be Academy Award nominated movies. The actual nominations don’t come out until tomorrow, but all of these movies will be nominated in some capacity and I think are worth spending some time with. Read more →

Well here we are, the first Sunday of a new year. Actually, we are celebrating the first Sunday of a new decade, with apologies to the chronological purists who will tell you that the new decade doesn’t actually start until 2021. But despite those party poopers, another year has passed and we’re all going to get another year older. And of course, with the beginning of a New Year, come those New Year’s resolutions. Read more →

For the longest time I didn’t know that the song the Twelve Days of Christmas wasn’t about the days before Christmas, like a countdown, but is actually about the days after Christmas. Today is actually the 4th day of Christmas, which we all know from the song as what?… That’s right, four calling birds! Calling birds, what in the world are calling birds? Read more →