Acts 17:16-28 No one has ever seen God. From the very beginning, human people have tried making idols and images so that we’d have something to see. We’ve tried coming up with names and metaphors. We say God is a father. God is Spirit. God is like a cosmic electrical...

Acts 16:16-34 If I’m going to be completely honest, I need to tell you, the scripture that Mary read is my favorite Bible story. I have loved this story since I first heard it as a child in Vacation Bible School. One of the Sunday School classrooms had been decorated...

John 20:19-31 In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God… What happened was the Holy Spirit took a breath, and began to sing, and all of life came back to life. The Word of God is the light that shines in the darkness like the stars...

John 20:1-18 In an early episode of the reality show, Pit Bulls and Parolees, what happened was that Tia Torres, the director of the dog rescue, took a phone call from a person who was concerned about a family of pit bulls living underneath an abandoned house in her...

Introduction to the Scripture: What the Cross Has Done To begin with, I need to acknowledge that you’ve made an extraordinary choice to come to church this afternoon. I mean come to church on Christmas Eve, or Easter, or Pentecost, there’s a good chance you’ll go out...

John 19:23-30 It could be this is the first time you’re coming to church on Maundy Thursday. It could be you’ve been coming to church your whole life and you’ve been to zillions of Maundy Thursday services over the years. For all of us, what’s happening in the service...

John 19:1-16 What happened was Pilate went back inside, and this time, he was terrified. He looked at Jesus who was wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, gazing straight ahead. Pilate asked him, Where are you from? And when Jesus didn’t say anything, that...

John 18:12-27 In January of Nineteen Ninety-Eight, I came upon an article in Parade Magazine that changed my life. (I actually still have it —all marked up with pink highlighter, and I’m not normally a saver of articles!) This was an interview with Archbishop Desmond...

Introduction: Outsiders Come In Imagine the disciples sitting around the table. They’re still shaken! They’re not quite sure what just happened. You see, they’re all having dinner at the home of Martha, and Mary, and Lazarus. It’s a post-resurrection celebration —an...

John 11:25-44 In the beginning, when darkness covered the face of the deep, the Holy Spirit took a breath and began to sing, and the world came into being. It’s like life itself heard the word of God and got up from the dead! Life coming back to life. Love coming back...