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 →

Close your eyes, picture Mary, the mother of Jesus, maybe with baby Jesus. Have you got an image in mind?  Maybe it’s a painting you’ve seen; maybe it’s a manger creche or a sculpture.  Maybe it’s a stained glass window image.  Maybe it looks something like this. Now imagine Joseph.  Do you have an image?  It’s harder isn’t it?  Are you thinking of this guy? Read more →

Mary, how can you sing? How can you possibly sing? Poor, pregnant and unmarried, how, Mary, can you sing? How can you sing when your life’s been turned upside down? How can you sing when you know that you will always have to deal with the whispers of the so called virgin who became pregnant even before her marriage took place? Read more →

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.  Those are the words of John the Baptist, the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness.  Dressed in camel’s hair, eating an early version of the Keto diet of locusts and wild honey, if you ever wanted someone to scare you into repentance, John would have been the one. Read more →