In the Genesis reading, we hear about how Isaac and his wife Rebekah engage with parenthood after fertility struggles. Sadly, even disappointingly, once children are born we hear how Isaac has not learned from his own family of origin about the importance of cultivating a good relationship between siblings. From
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Romans 7:15-25a • I do not do the good I want to do. Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 • My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Emilie M. Townes, a theologian, believes that the discipleship that Jesus is inviting us to in the passage from Matthew “requires that we stretch
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Romans 6:12-23 • The wages of sin is death; eternal life is free.Matthew 10:40-42 • Welcoming and offering a cup of water. Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote “Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will. To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” This is the way
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One of the things that makes the scriptures of our faith so powerful is how they refuse to sugarcoat the history of the family of faith. Even the depths of humanity are remembered including Sarah’s demand that Abraham’s son Ishmael and his mother Hagar be banished. The reading from Matthew’s
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In his letter to a community of faith in Rome, Paul acknowledges that a life of faith in God will not be easy, but can be bearable and even, eventually, hopeful. Jesus began his work toward the renewed kin-dom of God and, even while he was still alive, he brought
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Once we have decided that we are on the best and right path to fulfill the divine hope for this world, is there anything left to do but travel on? If the answer is “yes”, we may have a problem.
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Living in peace with one another is sometimes easier said than done. As we, like the disciples, answer the call to serve the world in love, bringing harmony and peace to all of God’s creation we must remember whom we serve, we must remember that we are called to do
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Acts 2:1-21 • The Spirit descends upon the people. 1 Corinthians 12:3b-13 • The gifts of the Spirit. As we celebrate the birth of the church we give thanks for all that we share, all that we are and all that we shall be together. It says in the passage
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Acts 17:22-31 • The Unknown God. John 14:15-21 • The Advocate, the Spirit, will be with you. What is the role of the church? What are we called to do and be as people of faith? We are called to love. There is no magical formula to doing this. What
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We live in a complex and dynamic world. As followers of Jesus we are called to acknowledge and proclaim that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. In some parts of the world this proclamation has led to the persecution of Christians, as Stephen (in the passage from
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