Sunday, May 4 – Acts 9:1-6 [7-20], Psalm 30, Revelation 5:11-14, John 21:1-19 I’m currently reading a book called Why Religion Went Obsolete, by Christian Smith, a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame (see his conversation with Tripp Fuller below). In it, Smith writes about societal movements and changes since the 1990s that came […]
Thursday, April 17, 2025, Maundy Thursday – Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 20-27 In 2023, I had the incredible privilege of co-leading a spiritual pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. It was quite a journey getting there. We of course flew overnight to Glasgow and then after a restful
April 13, 2025, Passion Sunday – Luke 19:28-40, Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 31:9-16, Philippians 2:5-11, Luke 22:14—23:56 We began this service with Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on the donkey as the people waved palms and shouted “Hosanna!” We’ve just heard the whole passion narrative that begins with the final supper that Jesus shared with his closest
Sunday, March 30, Lent 4 – Joshua 5:9-12, Psalm 32, 2 Corinthians 5:16-21, Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=\”\”]I stood in the library of the Lutheran Church of the Resurrection, preparing to leave for a spiritual retreat the next day at the Greenbough House of Prayer in middle Georgia. I pulled Henri Nouwen’s book The Return
Sunday, February 23, 2025 – Genesis 45:3-11, 15, Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40, 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50, Luke 6:27-38 Jesus tells us that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hurt us. Has there ever been any more difficult teaching than this? I’ve seen an image going around in certain circles that shows
Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13], Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11 I have to confess, I’ve never been very interested in fishing. As a child, my brother often took rod and reel and went with our Uncle Richie, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago, to see what they
Sunday, January 26, 2025 – Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21 Listen to the suffering of the people of Judah. First, their king and his family were forced into exile in Babylon. Then a few years later, when the great Temple was destroyed, almost all the Judeans were forced out
Sunday, January 19, 2025 – Isaiah 62:1-5, Psalm 36:5-10, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, John 2:1-11 If you were watching television in the U.S. between 1966 and 1973, I could probably say a certain phrase and hum a certain tune and you’d know exactly what I was referring to. “Good morning, Mr. Phelps” and [then I hummed
Sunday, December 1, 2024, First Sunday of Advent – Luke 21:25-36, also Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25: 1-10, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, psychiatrist Carl Jung had a series of visions that he later interpreted as foreshadowing the First World War. His visions included an image of a sea of
Sunday, November 17, 2024 – Mark 12:38-44, also 1 Kings 17:8-16, Psalm 34:1-8, Hebrews 9:24-28. In talking about vulnerability and living on the edge, I shared last week about a time when I was financially insecure and followed an intuition. That Spirit nudge led me to an action and a connection that brought me grace
