There are many books and passages in the Bible that have shaped my theology. In the closing weeks of my ministry here in Camden, I will be sharing those with you. Up first is Jonah. Jonah is the book that helps us understand the difficult role of a prophet in sharing God's radical grace with all people.

The last teaching of Jesus warns us about false prophets, false teachings, and the foundations of our faith. How do we know what we know? We should be curious about any teachings that contradict the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught a radical new way of relating to God and to each other. Over the centuries and empires, it has been watered down and even made toxic. But we can do better.

The is some form of the Golden Rule is every religion although many phrase in the negative of do not do to others what you would not want done to you. The positive phrasing is better. By age five, most of us learn to say it in Sunday School and can repeat back to parent's and friends. I do not remember anyone putting exceptions on it. There was no "except" or "only ifs". So why do we make so many exceptions now?

Many non-Christians think of Christians as being overly critical and judgmental. So it is curious why the beginning of the 7th chapter of the Sermon on the Mount is missing from the Common Lectionary? We need to talk to each other about judgment versus discernment and how each bears witness to our understanding of Jesus.

The world has changed over my lifetime. Many of us are witnessing norms change and not for the good. Where is our hope? On this Easter Sunday, Jesus has given us hope.

On the Palm/Passion Sunday, we will be reflecting on Paul's letter to the church at Philippi and the importance of the second chapter to the health of the community of faith.

Do you worry? Jesus has something to say about that!

As we continue our series from the Sermon on the Mount, today we look at where we place our treasure and we question what that treasure looks like.

Jesus gives us an easy but powerful prayer to remember.

Today we start Chapter Six in the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus address the three acts of piety in the Sermon on the Mount.