Sunday, September 22, 2024 – Mark 9:30-37 also Jeremiah 11:18-20, Psalm 54, James 3:13—4:3, 7-8a Several years ago, when I left the corporate world to become a performing singer and songwriter, I was also doing some consulting work. I’d had a long career in marketing and communications, and so I used all of my skills […]
Sunday, September 15, 2024 – Mark 8:27-38 also Isaiah 50:4-9a, Psalm 116:1-9, James 3:1-12 Our readings today – aside from the gospel – touch on the potential dangers of speaking and the value of listening. Both Isaiah and the Psalm mention our listening to God and God’s listening to us. And then James weighs in
Sunday, September 8 – Mark 7:24-37 also Isaiah 35: 4-7a, Psalm 146, James 2:1-10 [11-13] 14-17 “Eraser” by David Hayward | Naked Pastor You may have seen one of my favorite cartoons. It’s just a black and white sketch created by David Hayward (who goes by “Naked Pastor”) that shows a bunch of people with
Sunday, September 1, 2024 – Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, also Song of Solomon 2:8-13, Psalm 15, James 1:17-27 Our first reading today is from a book known as both the Song of Solomon and the Song of Songs. It’s one of five books known as the Wisdom literature of the Hebrew Bible. The other four
Sunday, August 25, 2024 – John 6:51-58, also Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20 In the early to mid-1800s, large groups of people left their Eastern and Midwestern homes to migrate west to California and Oregon looking for opportunity. They’d arrive in Independence, Missouri and form wagon trains of multiple families to travel together. Almost
Sunday, August 18, 2024 – Gospel John 6:51-58, also Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20 Swami Vivekananda was an Indian Hindu monk and religious teacher, born in 1863 who introduced Hinduism and yoga to the West. He traveled to the United States in 1893 and spoke at a huge event in Chicago called the Parliament of
Sunday, August 11, 2024 – Gospel John 6:35, 41-51, also 1 Kings 19:4-8, Psalm 34:1-8, Ephesians 4:25—5:2 As I’ve mentioned before from this pulpit, I’ve never been married. It seems I share that life situation with the apostle Paul. Although I’ve enjoyed incredibly close friendships and have learned many lessons about how to have good
Sunday, August 4, 2024 – Gospel, John 6:24-35, also Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15, Psalm 78:23-29, Ephesians 4:1-16 I love listening to recordings of Alan Watts, who you can hear almost everywhere on YouTube these days. I first heard of Watts when I was given a set of cassette tapes of his lectures that I’d listen to
Sunday, July 28, 2024 – Gospel, John 6:1-21, also 2 Kings 4:42-44, Psalm 145:10-18, Ephesians 3:14-21 We’ve recently started a Healthy Eating group here at Redeemer. Several of us meet each week to learn about healthy eating and support each other in our health goals. One of the topics that has come up is the
Sunday, July 21 2024 – Gospel, Mark 6:30-34, 53-56, also Jeremiah 23:1-6, Psalm 23, Ephesians 2:11-22 What draws people to Jesus? That’s the key question I want us to think about today. Now when I was last with you, two weeks ago, remember that Jesus had just gone back to his hometown where he experienced
