Built Up Not Puffed Up

Fourth Sunday of Epiphany Deuteronomy 18:15-20 I Corinthians 8:1-13 Mark 1:21-28 That’s the problem with cheese puffs. They taste so good, all that artificial orangey cheesy goodness, but they’re mostly air. If you aren’t paying attention, you get into a hypnotic rhythm gobbling up those doodles. Puff after puff, they hit your tongue and just …

Different Kinds of Bait

Third Sunday after Epiphany Jonah 3:1-5, 10 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 Mark 1:14-20 “I will make you fishers of people,” Jesus says… but what’s the bait? More recently in Christian history, we’ve heard Jesus’ call to become “fishers of people” as a command to save souls and/or boost church membership numbers. The urgency of this call …

A Good, but Not So Safe Baptized Life

Baptism of Our Lord (Year B) Genesis 1:1-5 Acts 19:1-7 Mark 1:4-11 To live a baptized life is a lot. It is comforting, fun, challenging, wonderful, joyful, and a bit scary. Kind of like the water exhibit of a children’s museum. Have you ever been to the water part of a children’s museum? It’s a …

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Epiphany of Our Lord Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:1-12 Matthew 2:1-12 The story of the Visit of the Magi is a potent reminder that we don’t know what we don’t know. Only God knows what we don’t know, until we do something different, go somewhere new and have what God knows revealed to us. We don’t …