When the World is Ending We Have Hope

First Sunday of Advent Isaiah 64:1-9 I Corinthians 1:3-9 Mark 13:24-37 Even though it happens every year, I am always jarred by the strangeness of the beginning of Advent in the church. You might expect something… a little more festive and celebratory? The world around us transforms as we get closer and closer to Christmas. …

Giving Thanks and Dancing

Thanksgiving Eve (Year A) Deuteronomy 8:7-18 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 Luke 17:11-19 Imagine it. Ten men, all who have leprosy. The disfigurement on their skin makes it hard for others to even look at them. Their disease makes people keep their distance for fear of catching the disease and becoming as wretched as they are. Some …

Refilling Your Oil

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost Amos 5:18-24 I Thessalonians 4:13-18 Matthew 25:1-13 Two people, Sam and Dani,  were invited to a wedding. They both live in Philadelphia, but the wedding was in Cleveland, 436 miles away. They both drive a Toyota Camry that gets great gas mileage. They can both get almost 500 miles on a …

Salvation Belongs To Our God!

All Saints Day (Year A) We shall overcome. We shall overcome. Deep in my heart, I do believe, we shall overcome some day. The song, We Shall Overcome, was originally a gospel song written by Reverend Charles Albert Tindly (he also known for composing the song that would later come to be known as “Stand …