Isaiah 1:1-18 Yahweh condemns injusticeLuke 19:1-10 Jesus and Zacchaeus A portrait of Zaccheus through dramatic monologue: “I never imagined that such a transformation could happen to me. I never imagined my heart could change after all these years. Then Jesus came to my house!” listen view
Continue readingGenesis 1:1–5 · In the beginning2 Kings 2:13–35 · Elisha succeeds Elijah “Creating a future is different from defining a future. The difference is focused in the distinction between valuing gifts and possibility vs. Defining needs and solving problems.” Reflections shared by Rev. Lynn Maki at the Covenanting Service for
Continue readingSirach 35:12–17 Divine justiceLuke 18:9-14 Pharisee and the tax collector Jesus tells a story about two people, both trying to be faithful. One goes home feeling right about what happened, but not the other. What makes the difference? What leaves us feeling right and what leaves us just not feeling
Continue readingOctober 17, 2010 Stewardship Sunday 2 Timothy 3:14 – 4:5 “People with itching ears will turn away”Luke 18:1-8 “The parable of the widow and the unjust judge” I will say it again: the body of Christ is nothing without you. You are all God’s stewards called to live a life
Continue readingDeuteronomy 26:1–11 First fruits and tithesPsalm 100 Make a joyful noiseLuke 17:11–19 Jesus cleanses ten lepers Sometimes, expressing gratitude—simply giving thanks—is the last thing we think to do.That is tragic, because when we begin with gratitude, it transforms—blesses everything that follows, like a light that illuminates our way ahead in
Continue readingHabakkuk 1:1–4, 2:1–4 Complaint and replyPsalm 37:1-9 Trust in the LordLuke 17:5-10 Unlimited faith and the willing servant The prevalence of evil and apathy in the world seems to extinguish hope for our worldly existence. But hope is not so passive — rather it is an active choice to trust
Continue readingAmos 6:1a, 4-7 Ignoring the ruin of JosephPsalm 146 Put not your trust in princesLuke 16:19-31 The rich man and Lazarus A story of a rich man who refuses to help a poor man and then confronts the dilema of his own salvation. What a universal story! The answer is
Continue readingAmos 8:4-7 Condemning injusticePsalm 113 Praise to the LordLuke 16:1-13 Cannot serve two masters This manager cheats his master to help his friends. It is outrageous behaviour that shatters our sense of decency and propriety. Why would Jesus tell a story like this? Maybe for exactly that purpose: to shatter
Continue readingDeuteronomy 30:15–20 Choose lifePsalm 1 The two waysLuke 14:25-33 The cost of discipleship We all want to be followers — disciples — of something ultimate, something wondrously true. Something to which we can give ourselves without reservation and for ever. Something that warrants allowing ourselves to be remade, reshaped and
Continue readingSirach 10:12-18 On pridePsalm 112 Bessings of the righteousLuke 14:1, 7-14 Humility and hospitality How do we rightly understand humility in a world so bent on rising above the rest and cultivating an artificial self? Jesus offers a paradoxical truth. And it is just this contradictory twist that breaks us
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