Ruth 1:1-18 • Ruth chooses to go with Naomi Mark 12:28-34 • Which commandment is the first of all. The name Ruth means friendship and that is exactly what the story of Ruth is about. The steadfastness of Ruth transforms social and cultural conventions. The story is an example of
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Job 42:1-6, 10-17 • Job acknowledges God’s power; Job’s fortunes are restored. Mark 10:46–52 • The healing of Bartimaeus. Someone must be to blame. We have to be able to point to the person or persons responsible for the mess we are in. Job’s friends all suggested blaming God. We
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Job 38:1-7; 34-41 • God’s rebuttal to Job’s complaint. Hebrews 5:1-10 • Christ learned obedience. COVID brought the world to a grinding halt and since that time, we have been doing a tango between moving forward and stepping back again. It is time to re-acquaint ourselves to God’s call as
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Each year we celebrate Thanksgiving as a way to ritualize our gratitude for all of the blessings we have received. And living in one of the wealthiest cities in one of the wealthiest countries in the world might give us pause to consider the depth of our gratitude. Amos and
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Job 1:1; 2:1-10 • Attack on Job’s health. Mark 10: 13-15 • Jesus blesses little children There are a lot of assumptions made about people of faith. Secular society likes to challenge the sacred and are often suspicious of it. Even with in faith communities there is suspicion and assumptions.
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The gospel reading this week closes with the words “Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” Being faithful requires a certain spiritedness, a certain saltiness. Or, as Jesus suggests, a certain fire. Our covenant with one another includes a certain passion for the life, health, and
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James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a • 2 kinds of wisdom. Mark 9:30-37 • Whoever welcomes a child, welcomes me. How do we live in community with one another, when we are all so different, when we express our faith differently? We start with a covenant which proclaims how we promise to live
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Wisdom cries and yet the cries seem to go unheeded. How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing? When will we choose knowledge? Have any of you seen similar questions on your facebook pages in recent months? It might be said that there has never been a more important time
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James 2:1-17 • Faith without works is dead Mark 7:24-37 • The Syrophoenician woman’s faith challenges Jesus. Leaders, even Jesus, can lose track of what they have been called to do. The scriptures demonstrate how the courage and the faith of a person who is not part of the community
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The Song of Solomon or the Song of Songs is basically love poetry written by an ancient Israeli poetess. Throughout history Christian churches have read the book as an allegory referring to the love between God and the Church, but it is important to read the text for what it
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