The Gospel According to Mark really is a remarkable work. In our gospel reading for this day we are present at the feeding of the five thousand men – and of course, all the women and children who were there too. Jesus’ intention, as least...
God showed Amos a plumb line. And then He said He would be, in effect, measuring His people Israel with that plumb line. Who have His people become? Do they remember Him, His statutes and His promises? Or have they fallen away so far from...
Do you know what a paradox is? According to the dictionary a paradox is: a statement that seems to contradict itself but expresses an element of truth. Our lessons today concern the idea of a paradox in Christian living, a paradox of values, and a...
You’ll remember from your art class how flat painting and even mosaic works appeared before Italian painters in the 15 century discovered how to add perspective to a flat canvass. The Flemish painters really developed the concept in the century following and now we just...
I’ve always appreciated the words of the author of the book we call Hebrews, when he refers to Today, note the capital letter, as the day of our Lord, the day of salvation. Has there been a day of salvation in your life? Your baptism,...
Zeal. Zealous. Zealot. Not words we use very often, are they? Today Pastor Eremeling presents those words in a Gospel context, using the image of Simon the Zealot. That Simon was a political animal, hating the Roman occupation of Palestine and working against it to...
Our Old Testament reading today is a portion of the events in the Garden. All Creation fell in those moments, of course, not just Adam and Eve. Prior to Sin, there were no thorns on roses, or spikes on palm branches, and the weather was...
As people of God, we dwell in two kingdoms, left and right. This weekend we recognize God’s right hand kingdom as together we speak through the Athanasian Creed, the great and ancient teaching of the mystery of the Trinity, that our God is three Persons...
Today we celebrate Pentecost, the birth of the Christian Church. Ironically our sermon text for this Pentecost Sunday uses bones, a valley full of dry human bones to teach important truths about the Holy Spirit (Ezekiel 37: 1-14). And just what are those truths? Make...