Isaiah restates one of the central messages of the prophets: God is not impressed by spiritual practices and rituals if they are only performative and not sincere. Personal, penitential acts intended to bring a person closer to God are meaningless and even counterproductive if not done with sincere, God-seeking in
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It may come as a surprise that there were tensions within even the earliest communities that gathered around the life and teachings of Jesus. Which teacher and leader had the most authority and what was this authority based on? Was authority based on a person’s social standing? On miraculous signs?
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1 Corinthians 1:10-18 • Overcome divisions and find unity. Matthew 4:12-23 • Jesus begins his ministry Joseph Campbell who is known for his work in archetypal stories has noted that cultures around the world speak of the beginnings of something as a call to adventure. What if we look at
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Psalm 40 • I waited patiently for God. John 1:29-42 • Simon and Andrew become disciples Fear, uncertainty, and worry can hold us back from all that God offers. Imagine what could happen if we found a way to release our fears. Imagine what could happen when we trust in
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Acts 10:34-43 • Gentiles hear the Good News. Matthew 3:13-17 • Jesus and John the Baptizer. In the reading from the book of Acts (officially “The Acts of the Apostles”), after a persuasive vision from God, Peter, somewhat surprisingly, speaks in front of an unexpected audience: Romans, who, as Gentiles–those
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 • For everything there is a season. Matthew 25:31-46 • The judgement of the nations. Caring for a child, an elderly parent, or a pet is a commitment of love. According to The Virtues Project “Commitment is caring deeply about a person, a goal or a belief…we make
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Luke 1:46b-55 • Mary’s song. Mary’s relative Elizabeth has just experienced her own 6 month in utero child leaping within her and has made the prophetic pronouncement that it was because of the saving, holy importance of the one soon to be borne by Mary. Elizabeth further states that Mary
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Isaiah 11:1-10 • The peaceful kin-dom. Matthew 11:2-11 • Messengers from John the Baptist. Entering a new realm or a new way of being takes courage. These passages remind us of the invitation to go out into the world and see things anew, or in other words, to see things
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A couple of weeks ago, the gospel reading from Luke was about when the priest Zechariah pronounced a blessing on his newborn child. First, however, he recounted the story of God’s faithfulness to God’s people and how God was about to act in a way that fulfilled God’s promises of
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Isaiah 2:1-5 • The future house of God. Matthew 24:36-44 • The necessity of watchfulness. The season of Advent marks the end of one era and the beginning of a new one. The challenge we face is how we prepare ourselves for the coming of Jesus. Isaiah proclaims that God’s
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