Sunday, February 8, 2026 – Isaiah 58:1-9a [9b-12], Psalm 112:1-9 [10], 1 Corinthians 2:1-12 [13-16], Matthew 5:13-20 This is the gospel according to fifth chapter of Matthew beginning with the 13th verse as it appears in the Bible translation called The Message. 13 “Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning […]
Sunday, January 18, 2026 – Isaiah 49:1-7, Psalm 40:1-11, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, John 1:29-42 Years ago, I found myself on a journey that changed the way I think about faith and community. In my church in Marietta, Georgia, I joined a small group study based on the book The Edge of Adventure: An Experiment in
Sunday, August 3, 2025 – Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23, Colossians 3:1-11, Luke 12:13-21 When I got my dog, Cotton, back in the north Georgia mountains, I developed a particular whistle I would use to call him. It was a way for my familiar “voice” to cut through the other noises of the environment, to reach
Sunday, July 13, 2025 – Luke 10:25-37 Have you ever been watching a movie and know just what’s going to happen next – even before it happens? I’ve experienced that when watching a whodunit mystery on television. Sometimes we’re extra observant and notice subtle cues before other people do. That happened to me when I
Sunday, July 6 – Galatians 6:[1-6] 7-16, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 One of my first jobs after college was in sales. I worked for a company that sold Brittannica reading skills programs for young children and sets of the Compton’s Encyclopedia. It wasn’t easy and for my first six months, I couldn’t sell a thing. Someone
Sunday, June 29, 2025 – 1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21, Psalm 16, Galatians 5:1, 13-25, Luke 9:51-62 Though there is a lot of rich material in all of our readings, today, I’d like to explore the idea of freedom. What does freedom mean to you? In the gospel of John, Jesus says If you abide in
Sunday, March 16, 2025 – Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18, Psalm 27, Philippians 3:17—4:1, Luke 13:31-35 There’s a story motif that appears in many different cultures and historical periods throughout the world that mythologist Joseph Campbell called “the hero’s journey.” It’s a pattern that has become familiar to us through books or movies like Star Wars and
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
