Jesus and his disciples have arrived in Jerusalem. Religious authorities have taken notice and attempt to trick Jesus into saying something controversial (and hopefully blasphemous) so they can have him detained and silenced. Jesus answers yet another potentially entrapping question in such a succinct way that his opponents dare not
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Mark 12: 1-17 • Parable of the wicked tenants; paying taxes to Caesar People in power in the secular world tend to live in an either-or dynamic. Powerful leaders are portrayed as people are able to convince others of the truth. They are often great at debate and never back
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Mark 10:17-31 • Rich man is called to sell all he has to follow Jesus As we enter the season of Lent what are we being called to relinquish in order to return to God? The secular world invites us to live in the spirituality of scarcity, where we allow
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Mark 8:27-9:8 • Peter’s confession, and the Transfiguration. Best Picture Nominated Movie: Barbie Continuing a Robertson-Wesley tradition, on Sunday, February 11, the sermon will look at the scripture reading of the day with an Oscar-nominated movie in mind. The scripture passages today explore questions of identity. Who is Jesus? Who
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Best Picture Nominated Movie: Oppenheimer Resuming a Robertson-Wesley tradition, on Sunday, February 4, the sermon will look at the scripture reading of the day with an Oscar-nominated movie in mind. Both sources deal with powerful forces and how they are dealt with by key, historic individuals—Jesus and J. Robert Oppenheimer.
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Mark 5:21-43 • Jesus heals those who seek relief. The story of the faith of the woman who reaches out to touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak is one of deep abiding faith. It is a story of living one’s faith boldly, and taking a risk. As we celebrate the
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The Gospel of Mark moves at a breakneck pace because of the urgency of what Jesus has to accomplish. A storm on the Sea of Galilee has deposited Jesus and his disciples in Gentile territory, a place faithful Jews like them would not have voluntarily ventured at that time. Not
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Mark 4:1-34 • Parables of sower and mustard seed. Jesus taught in parables which is defined as a short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle. The parable of the sower invites faithful followers to not worry about success on the first try, but rather to
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Jesus has just begun his public ministry and from the start it moves at a frenetic pace, reflecting the urgency of his message of God’s new world being at hand. Even as the words of his first Sabbath synagogue teaching are reverberating, it becomes apparent that a major need of
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