[RCL] Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7); Psalm 116:1, 10-17; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:8(9-23) The Church is identified and known by many names and characteristics. It is seen as a community of saints, God’s chosen people, the new Israel, and so on. All of these images do have a strong biblical basis and have been handed down in…

[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…

Where do you go to encounter God? Do you have a favorite place for divine inspiration? Some of you will instinctually think of going to church. Another way to phrase the question is, “Where do you go when you really need to think and make a decision?” Perhaps some of you embrace nature by going…

“Jesus went about all the cities and villages.” — Matthew 9:35 Scripture is replete with images and stories of journey. We could cite, for example, the epic journey of Abraham and Sarah from Ur in present-day Iraq – the center of ancient civilization – to what was to become the promised land of Israel. Later,…

“Out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although all the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Imagine how the Israelites must have felt hearing those words. Against all odds, and surely even against their own expectations, God had allowed this group…

We have so many ways of learning about God. We learn from Holy Scripture, of course. We learn from our worship, from the seasons of the year and the glories of nature, from one another, in our prayers. There is a way of watching movies that can open our minds and hearts to God in…

In this text Jesus is filled with compassion and then he puts in a prayer request. For those of us who have years and years of life as serious Christians, this is the most normal of patterns. We are moved to compassion. Then we pray. At the first opportunity we call for prayers from our…

Today’s lessons are not comforting. They run counter to the belief commonly held by many Christians that if you choose to live your life in accordance with God’s word, then everything will be alright. You will live in peace and quiet and that nothing bad will happen to you because you are being good. Today’s…

“Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. And these are the names of the twelve apostles…” Wait a minute! Something’s happening here, something important, but it goes by so fast you may not even have noticed it….