“What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?...Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things…
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture:“Behold, I am laying…
1How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2How long shall I have perplexity in my mind, and grief in my heart, day after day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? 3Look upon me and answer me, O Lord my God; give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; 4lest my enemy say, “I have defeated you,” and my foes rejoice that I have fallen. 5But I trust in…
For with you is the fountain of life;in your light we see light.(Psalm 36:9)The Psalm for today from the Revised Common Lectionary is Psalm 36. The second half of verse 9, “in thy light we see light” is the motto of my alma matter, Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana. This phrase is prominent throughout the university, but most so within the beautiful and tremendous stained-glass windows surrounding the altar and chancel of the Chapel of the Resurrection. This chapel is enormous, holding up…
While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead. So they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word believed; and they numbered about five thousand. Acts 4:1-4The words of the late John Lewis,…
Alleluia! He is Risen! He is risen, indeed!But could they see Jesus?In the days after the resurrection Jesus appears to people over and over again without fanfare, in their ordinary moments. And time after time, people who knew Jesus well don’t recognize him, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for hours. Jesus appears to Mary, crying over His own missing body, and she doesn’t recognize that it is Jesus there to comfort her. Cleopas and the other disciple walk with Jesus, talking about…
Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Where in your surroundings do you see new life? In nature? In your relationships? In the stirring of the Holy Spirit? Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! How can your prayer life rise up? Are there new rituals or practices you can try? Christ is risen, He is risen indeed. Alleluia! What is something you can release from the tomb? Can you name something (or someone) that can move from the darkness into…
Video - Hope prepares the way for the coming of the Christ child. Hope is the foundation from which our faith grows. Hope stirs our hearts toward shared purpose and the future Kingdom of God promised in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. When we hope, we share our faith with the world.
Every single Easter story in the Bible has fear and confusion and doubt. It seems as if it is impossible to have faith in the resurrected Jesus without also having doubts— and that … that’s okay. (see video)
“But now ask the beasts to teach you,And the birds of the air to tell you;Or the reptiles on earth to instruct you,And the fish of the sea to inform you.Which of all these does not knowThat the hand of God has done this?In this hand is the soul of every living thing,And the life of all humankind.”Job 12:7-10I live in a treehouse. No, really, I do! It’s actually a third-floor apartment with a balcony overlooking a nice courtyard, but with a beautiful…
A beautiful acapella rendition of In Christ Alone - this mother's favorite hymn. In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light my strength my song
“Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” Luke 24:29 The Gospel for today is one of the most dramatic of all the incredible stories of the resurrection of Jesus, albeit they are all dramatic. This is the story of the encounter of Jesus with two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus. For reasons not identified they don’t recognize him. He asks a series of questions to draw the story out. As they reach…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 1 Peter 1:3This verse is from the second reading scheduled for this week you would have heard in church. The full reading scheduled is 1 Peter 1:3-9 (NRSV). The reading continues:...and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being…
One of my favorite authors, Phillip Yancey jolted my thinking about Easter several years ago. He wrote: Two days, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, are perhaps the most significant days on the entire church calendar, and yet, in a real sense, we live our lives on Saturday, the day in between…Human history grinds on, between the time of promise and fulfillment. Its Saturday on plant Earth; will Sunday ever come? (“Unwrapping Jesus: My Top Ten Surprises,” Christianity Today, June, 1996 Its Holy Saturday…
In so many ways we who are a people of faith have been experiencing this Holy Week and Easter with a sense of dread. There is a feeling that there has never been an Easter like this. This Holy Week through Zoom meetings with friends and colleagues I could see the stress and deep sadness on their brows that they were going through since none of us would be together. Gone are the flowers, the lilies are not there, the tulips and other…
Here’s a God question for you,a question God puts to you:“Mortal,” God calls you, “can these bones live?” I’ve been thinking about the prophet Ezekiel,prophesying to that valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37.And I’ve been thinking about these dry, anxious, fearful timeswe’re living in. We are all anxious right now,whether you feel it or not—because I’m not talking about a feelingbut something more like a state of being.We’ve been threatened by something we can’t see,a virus, a danger we don’t know...
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