Pain makes things truly real!

John 12: 12-19 Jesus enters JerusalemJohn 19: 16a-22 Crucifixion of Jesus The great poet Rumi wrote, “The grief you cry out from draws you toward union.” This service begins with the cries of Hosanna, and ends with the cries of Crucifixion. Barbara Brown Taylor, a theologian, has come to realize

Continue reading

Will You Claim Who You Are?

Taken by Rev. Karen Bridges John 18: 12-27 The trial for Jesus Denial and bargaining are defense mechanisms that help us to deal with our feelings of shock, fear, loss, helplessness and vulnerability. Every human will react differently in a crisis situation. For Peter, a disciple of Jesus, he is

Continue reading

The Death of Rituals

A disturbing trend has emerged in regards to death and how we deal with it — or not deal with it as the case may be. Time and time again I find myself faced with a grieving family, who proceed to inform me that the deceased did not wish to

Continue reading

Picture taken by Rev. Karen Bridges in Sept 2017 Botswana John 3: 1-21 Nicodemus Visits Jesus Sometimes it is just as important to recognize that which is not said as well as that which is said. Sometimes it is hard to accept our failures and frailties, the truth is that

Continue reading

What are you hiding from?

Nicodemus is a leader, he is spiritually open and curious and at the same time very rational. Nicodemus is not ready to come out of the proverbial closet, he is not ready to declare his faith in public, nor is he ready to let it transform his life. What secret

Continue reading

Have you heard who moved in?

John 1: 1–18 The Word Became Flesh The word on the streets is that God has moved into the neighbourhood. The word has become flesh, and now we can experience God in human form. Jesus is the word, and though many words in our world have lost power, this word

Continue reading

Remember to trust in God

Picture taken by Rev. Karen Bridges, Sept 2017 Jeremiah 29: 1, 4–14 [Letter to the exiles] The prophet Jeremiah is writing to people who have been exiled, who have been forced to move away from what they have known – into the unknown. Today this is sometimes experienced in the

Continue reading