Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 Don’t be hypocrites; work for justice.Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 (VU p. 775) The heavens proclaim God’s justice.Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16 Faith is the assurance of things hoped for. The idea of animal sacrifice in today’s society as a peace offering to God seems absurd and an ancient practice
Continue readingScripture: Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14, 2:18-23 Vanity of vanities Psalm 49:1-12 The folly of riches Luke 12:13-21 Parable of the rich fool Sermon: Making Sense of LifeAt first we accept the world as sensible and Jesus life does not make sense. But as we hear the gospel and come to know
Continue readingScripture: Colossians 2:6–15 Christ brings real life Luke 11:1–13 The Lord’s prayer Sermon: Living Prayer By teaching the disciples to pray, Jesus equips them for continuing to live God’s Way. Prayer emanates from the deep longing for the Spirit: “thy Kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it
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The Spiritual Arts Collective The experience at the ISM Congregational Projects Seminar has left a deep imprint on our Spiritual Arts Collective project, on our ministry here at RWUC and on my life. I remember the first day we gathered and Martin Jean, the director of the Institute of Sacred
Continue readingAmos 8:1-12 God will turn feasts to mourning and songs to lamentations Luke 10:38-42 Jesus visits Mary and Martha The scriptures for this week both explore the nature of witness. Witness is sometimes named as testimony, or evangelism, or sharing the Good News. We are reminded today that God calls
Continue readingAmos 7:7-17 God holds a plumb line in the midst of God’s people Colossians 1:1-14 the word of God is bearing fruit in you Luke 10:25-37 The parable of the Good Samaritan On the journey of faith and life we sometimes need to reset the plumb line. This is what
Continue readingScripture: Isaiah 66:10-13 Comfort to Jerusalem Luke 10:1-11; 16-20 Mission of the seventy Sermon: There Comes a TimeIt was an historic moment. Jesus’ talk of the plenitude of the harvest echoed Isaiah’s words of the promise of prosperity. When the grain is ripe, it is time for harvest. So they
Continue readingScripture: 2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14 Elijah ascends to heaven Luke 9:51-62 Would-be followers Sermon: Facing JerusalemJesus decides now to go to Jerusalem. He proceeds with tremendous determination, because a moment of destiny is at hand. He calls his disciples to follow with a brutal urgency. Who is this One, moving
Continue readingScripture: 1 Kings 19:1-15 Elijah at Mt Horeb Galatians 3:23-29 Heirs according to the promise Luke 8:26-39 Gerasene demoniac Sermon: Soul LongingWe have a longing, deep in our souls, for the presence of God and for God’s will to be done on earth. Our longing is met by the Promise:
Continue reading1 Kings 21:1-21a Ahab desires Naboth’s vineyard.Luke 7:36-8:3 The woman with the alabaster jar; the woman who support Jesus. Materialism and consumerism frequently leads us on a path which leaves us wanting more, never feeling we have enough, it leads us on the path that King Ahab found himself on
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