December 14, 2025

In a recent gathering of local clergy with Regional Pastoral Support minister Laurie Stevenson we were guided through some Advent reflections including Joy that she symbolized as a candle in the window. Joy at Christmas, she said, is often misunderstood as constant cheerfulness yet Scripture tells a quieter truth: joy is something that comes in the morning, something that returns even after sorrow has had its time. 

That idea is based on Psalm 30:5 which says, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.“ In this verse we are reminded that seasons of sorrow and hardship are temporary, and God promises that hope, light, and lasting joy will eventually break through the darkness. It is fitting for our ongoing journey of waiting and preparing of advent toward the wonder and mystery of Christ’s birth and Christmas.

December 7, 2025

Right off the hop in this gospel lesson we hear the words, prison, and Christ, which is Greek for Messiah, in the same sentence. And I kept thinking, how can this lead us to peace? And it certainly doesn’t seem obvious. What seems to be obvious is that John the Baptist is actually very disappointed in Jesus. For example, he doesn’t appear to be handing Jesus the cup of his sadness, but rather the cup of doubt if Jesus is the one. John sounds kind of snippy. “Are you the one or should we be waiting for someone else?”
Jesus’ is response to John is to remind John about what is the work of the Messiah. Jesus says to John’s disciples tell him about what you have seen. That the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.” What Jesus is saying is that’s the work of the Messiah. What Jesus hears in John’s question is not a question about healing or feeding or caring. What Jesus hears is John’s desire for power. John doesn’t need healing. John doesn’t need feeding. What John wants is power over King Herod so that he can be released from prison. 

November 30,2025

On the first Sunday of Advent, we light a candle representing ‘Hope’. We even encouraged people to tie one on for hope. But the scripture lessons would suggest that there is no hope or peace or joy and scant love in the world and I don’t see a baby making much difference. So, we have to step back, and appreciate that the first two Sundays of Advent are really about preparation. 

These Sundays challenge us to ask, how can we prepare for the birth of the Christ child in this chaos? This is an important question to ask at a time when as I said to the kids last week that our brains are on fire …..

November 23, 2025

Today is the last Sunday in a long series about how seeking a vision for what might be a new congregation and it is also Reign of Christ Sunday. These two things are related. They are related because just as Jesus is a very different kind of king, in a world that has known many kings. The church is called to be a very different organization, in a world that has known many organizations. So, if we look at why Jesus is such a different king, I think we begin to understand the kind of vision that the church ought to be about. 

November 9, 2025

On Remembrance Sunday, we remember how at the very beginning, when there is talk of war, the leaders fill the air with rhetoric of honor, glory, and the grandeur of victory. On street corners, in bars and gathering places, we sing out jubilant music of marching onto glory.

However, once the war begins and the casualties mount. The list of towns, villages, and cities that are being destroyed, and ravaged grows. In no time the attention of the masses is tuned to survival and the longing for peace again. Even the peace of surrender looks good. Next comes that movement of longing not for glory, but for those who have fought to come home. Please God let them come home alive. 

Then there is the call after the war to remember. Remember the sacrifice …….

November 2, 2025

Last week, I said that we Christians have a softer kinder perspective of first century, Jewish tax collectors, than those who were living back then and listening to Jesus’s stories. The story that we heard today is one of those that has made the difference. Now I was talking about this with Rev. Gaylyn and my desire to talk about humility as an essential part of seeking a vision to come out of the amalgamation workshops and discussion. She said it reminded her of a sermon that deeply touched her son Jacob. That sermon was by the late Rev. Timothy Keller. In that sermon, he uses one of his favorite metaphors, which emphasizes the dangers of you and me thinking that we know better than God, which he calls, ‘sitting in God’s chair.’