RCL: 2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10; Psalm 48; 2 Corinthians 12:2-10; Mark 6:1-13 What do you think about when someone mentions your hometown? Maybe it’s the sight of your mother’s overabundant garden or running through the backyard to get to your grandparents’ house. Maybe your hometown holds fond recollections of playing summer baseball or walking to…

RCL: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26; Psalm 1; 1 John 5:9-13; John 17:6-19 Everybody knows that oysters sometimes make pearls; that little tidbit has been used to illustrate many a point. But you may have heard that old truth said in a new way a while back, a way that gives it more power. It seems pearls…

RCL: Genesis 9:8-17; Psalm 25:1-9; 1 Peter 3:18-22; Mark 1:9-15 Genesis 9:8-17 The covenant that God establishes here is an unusual covenant. Most covenants are between two entities, with the more powerful one promising protection and provision and the less powerful one promising fealty. Here, however, God establishes a covenant with not just Noah, but…

Judges 4:1-7 The Israelites are seeking to take the land of Canaan and this chapter of Judges discusses the events that took place leading up to the capture of this land. Deborah is one of the major “Judges” or “charismatic leaders” of the Israelite people; she is also the only female prophet, or prophetess, in…

[RCL]: Exodus 12:1-14; Psalm 149; Romans 13:8-14; Matthew 18:15-20 The ocean is one of the most beautiful of all God’s creations. If you sit at the shoreline, you can never see where the ocean ends. There is a lot to be learned from sitting and looking at the ocean; if you are present at high…

Genesis 29:15-28 In the story of Jacob and Laban, the trickster is tricked. Jacob, who stole his brother’s birthright, is tricked into marriage with Leah, the first daughter, displacing Rachel, the second daughter. Through this manipulation, Jacob and Laban treat Leah and Rachel as objects to be earned and bargained for. In turn, the women…

[RCL]: Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1, 10-17; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8 (9-23) Twelve. Twelve is one of those rare numbers to which people have for centuries attributed special significance. We give a special name for twelve – a dozen. More interestingly for us, it is a very significant number in the Bible, used around 187…

Ezekiel 37:1-14 The prophet Ezekiel writes to a community in exile—a community devastated by disconnection from their places and people of origin. Ezekiel describes a site that would seem familiar to his listeners: a valley of dry bones. This image evokes despair through its desolate landscape, which would not have been simply metaphoric to the…

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10 The wall surrounding Jerusalem is finally completed, despite local detractors, and as the people have returned from exile, they are re-establishing traditions. When we think of walls today, perhaps the fall of the Berlin Wall comes to mind, but the wall around this city was protection against hostile neighbors, rather than…

Isaiah 43:1-7 As we remember Jesus’ baptism in the River Jordan, the prophet Isaiah’s words speak to us about the profound faithfulness of God. In this passage, God promises his chosen people that he will be with them no matter what. During my undergraduate days at a small church-related college in the Midwest, we sang…