Luke 7:1-17 On Thanksgiving night, when I was eleven years old, my grandparents called with terrible news. They had been dog-sitting our Australian shepherd, Macrame, because we were heading out of town the next day. My grandpa was walking her over the bridge by their...

Luke 5:1-11 Before I read the scripture, I saw the title: Jesus Calls the First Disciples, I thought I knew what we’d be getting into. I thought this would be the story when Jesus goes out by the lake, sees the fishermen on the water and yells: Hey you guys! Why don’t...

Luke 4:14-30 The Spirit of the LORD is upon me because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim the shining promise of liberation, O Hallelujah! The people heard Jesus reading from Isaiah, and their hearts thrilled, and their faces broke into...

Luke 3:1-22 Here’s what gets me about God… Because of course we know the things that our faith teaches us to be true. You know: God is before the beginning and after the end. With their own hands, God makes everything living. The breath of the Spirit is the breath in...

Luke 2:41-52 There’s a whole holy moment. After the women show up to find the tomb is empty… Before they know Jesus is risen. After the magi set out to follow the star… Before they find the house with a baby. There’s a whole holy moment: After the crisis we never saw...

Luke 1:26-45 It’s no small miracle that, in all the world, Gabriel managed to locate the exact right girl he was supposed to find, but oh my goodness. He did not practice his approach! Gabriel took one look at Mary and bellowed: Greetings favored one! You there, human...

Isaiah 61 Today is the Sunday of Joy and at church we’re celebrating two shimmering expressions of the Word of God. The first comes to us as the promise of God announced by the prophet. What happened was the people had returned to Zion after the exile. Even though...

Joel 2:12-13, 28-29 With the exception of a quick quote on Pentecost, the book of Joel is one we don’t read in church very often. If you were to skim through it sometime, you’d see why. Joel is a prophecy that begins and ends with violence. In the beginning, the...

“Melt the clouds of sin and sadness, drive the dark of doubt away. Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day.”¹ from “Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee” lyrics by Henry Van Dyke, Jr. I love these words! I sing these words, and I mean them. And...

Jeremiah 36:1-8, 21-28 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 If somebody were to compile a collection of Christians’ favorite Bible passages, I’ve got to believe, Jeremiah Thirty-One would make the list. This snippet of scripture has made its way into music and calls to worship, and...