03/05/2020
Many people set a goal for the New Year for positive change in their lives. Christians, on Ash Wednesday, set a goal to change our lives. Not to randomly change our lives, but to transform our lives so that we may become more like Christ and so we may glorify God. From Ash Wednesday we march into the season of Lent, focusing 40 days on a practice which will then become a positive discipline in our lives.
The Apostle Paul was very concerned about the church in Corinth when he wrote letters to them which we have in our Bible. He was disturbed by the reports he was receiving and he loved them enough to fight for them--to call them out for their wayward ways and call them back to Christ.
“Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” I Corinthians 5:6-8
Just as a pinch of salt can add great flavor to a recipe, a bit of old yeast will leaven the entire batch. The ingredients of our lives affect the direction of our lives. During this 40 day journey, may each of us put the best, the most flavorful and the most effective flavor in our lives as persons of faith.
Archived Posts
Understanding God's Unconditional Love
Sunday, I talked about how Jacob was someone who couldn’t take "Yes" for an answer. The question that came out of that observation, which we didn’t have time to talk about it in the sermon, is this: Why do we insist on earning and deserving what is freely given us?
POEM: "Easter is Judgment Day"
I love poetry, but I often find it more difficult to understand than simple prose. It took me a long time to realize that poetry is supposed to call for an entirely different way of seeing and hearing.
From One Detective to Another
The actual quote, that I was alluding to in Sunday’s sermon is from Sherlock Holmes. It is: “When you have eliminated all which is impossible, then whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
Using Your Blessings to Bless Others
When I said that’s not what Jesus wants from you, I didn’t mean that Jesus doesn’t want your car, home, pans, phone, and TV. He still has need of those things...
One more thing about Pastor Jessica's message:
To Be Jesus’ BFF
There are Bible scholars who have come to believe that Lazarus was probably the best friend Jesus had—outside his family and disciples. He is often in the home of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus. When there, it feels like Jesus is in a place where he can let his hair down among friends.
Those With Eyes to See, Let Them See
There are a lot of people who struggle with traveling if they aren’t in the front seat of the car. But them in the back seat or in the third row at your own peril, because there’s a good chance they’re going to get car sick. Some folks just have a predisposition to motion sickness. Other folks were just too slow in calling “shotgun” and use this excuse to bump someone else out of the coveted passenger seat.
Synecdoche - Defining the Whole with a Single Part.
After first service, someone who supports Donald Trump came up to me and told me that they didn’t like me using Mr. Trump’s use of nicknames in the 2016 campaign—despite being spot on as an illustration of synecdoche. They thought it put him in a negative light. They pointed out that I rarely mention President Biden. I get it.