Baptism of Our Lord B

Posted on Sun 11 January 2015 in misc

Last week, I sat in on the adult education class and together we learned about an old religious sect called the Gnostics. The Gnostics were a loose collection of people with a wide variety of beliefs active around the time of Jesus and the early church formation. The Gnostics influenced …

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Epiphany

Posted on Sun 04 January 2015 in misc

The Wise Men are here. They may even be sitting next to you.

We know about the Wise Men from the Gospel of Matthew which we have just heard. In Matthew’s account of the birth of Jesus, we don’t hear about shepherds or animals; we hear about wise …

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Christmas 1 B

Posted on Sat 27 December 2014 in misc

Praise be to Christ, indeed.

One of my favorite family traditions growing up was the Christmas Day journey to my Uncle Dan & Aunt Sylvia’s house. It wasn’t because of presents, really, since most of that had already happened the night before. It wasn’t because I could even …

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Christmas Eve 2014

Posted on Wed 24 December 2014 in misc

From heav’n above to earth I come
to bear good news to ev’ry home!
Glad tidings of great joy I bring
to all the world, and gladly sing:

Those are the words of a beautiful Christmas hymn now some 500 years old. There are 13 more stanzas, too …

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Advent 4 B

Posted on Fri 19 December 2014 in misc

There’s this recurring joke in the Mel Brooks film “High Anxiety” where every time one character is helping move or carry something, he goes, “I got it. I got it… I don’t got it.” And drops whatever he’s carrying. I sometimes feel like that this time of …

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Advent 3 B

Posted on Sun 14 December 2014 in misc

Are your Christmas lights up yet?

You may or may not be aware that there is some controversy about when Christmas lights should go up. Some folks say that Christmas lights everywhere should be reserved for the Christmas season which technically begins at Christmas and goes for 12 days. So …

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Advent 2 B

Posted on Sun 07 December 2014 in misc

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

And the beginning of the Good News; the beginning of the Gospel, the story of Jesus the Christ starts not with the birth in the manger, or the baptism of Jesus, but instead with the voice of …

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Advent 1 B

Posted on Fri 28 November 2014 in misc

““But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great …

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Easter 2014

Posted on Sat 19 April 2014 in misc

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

“After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and …

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Good Friday 2014

Posted on Fri 18 April 2014 in misc

BASE HEADER LEVEL: 2

Tonight we draw near to the cross by telling the story of the Passion from the Gospel of John. There is a balance to this. On this darkest day on the Christian calendar, as we approach the lowest point in human history, the Gospel of John …

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