June 13, 2021 3rd Sunday After Pentecost Scripture readings: Mark 4: 1-9, 26-34 Imagine that you are driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood for whatever reason. Maybe you are lost; maybe you are looking for a friend’s house; maybe you are checking out …
April 4, 2021 Easter Sunday Scripture reading: Mark 16: 1-8 (women find the tomb empty) Today we hear the most frustrating Resurrection account of the four Gospels. One commentator remarked that the ending of Mark’s Gospel is written as if to …
March 28, 2021 Palm Sunday Scripture reading – Mark 11: 1-11 We’ve all heard it before…dozens and dozens of times… described in detail in all four Gospels…the triumphant entry of Jesus of Nazareth into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. We all know …
February 28, 2021 2nd Sunday in Lent Scripture readings – Genesis 17: 1-7,15-16 and Mark 8:31-38 In the days following the end of World War II, Americans of all kinds returned from the business of war and got back to normal. Or …
February 14, 2021 Transfiguration of the Lord Scripture readings – 2nd Corinthians 4: 3-12 and Mark 9: 2-9 In 1949, in an area near the fabled Dead Sea, Bedouin shepherds were searching for missing goats from their herds. One of the young shepherd …
February 7, 2021 Fifth Sunday After Epiphany Scripture reading – Mark 1: 29-39 In American culture and in American history, it has been common to use a bell to summon the people for some task. When the bell rings at a school, …
January 31, 2021 Fourth Sunday After Epiphany Scripture readings: Deuteronomy 18: 15-20, 1st Corinthians 8: 1-13, Mark 1: 21-28 One of the things that I appreciate about the Bible is the way that patterns appear. As a Christian and as someone who loves the Bible, …
January 10, 2021 Baptism of the Lord Scripture readings – Genesis 1:1-5, Acts 19:1-7, & Mark 1:4-11 His name was Vernon Johns, and he was a preacher. He was not your ordinary preacher either. He was blunt, brilliant, and suffered no fools. He …
December 6, 2020 Second Sunday of Advent Scripture readings – John 1:19-28 & Mark 1:4-11 It has been suggested from this pulpit that it is highly significant when all four Gospels mention the same story. Those events that include: Jesus feeding the …