Grace Alone Online

The person we attribute as most responsible for Jesus' sentencing during His passion is Pontius Pilate.  A Roman governor of Judea, Pilate was disdained by the Jews who were a constant problem for him, he was place on report to Caesar because of them.  He feared the Jews and so to protect himself turned Jesus over to them to be crucified.  Was he innocent?  A victim of circumstance?  His judgment caused the death of Jesus just to save himself.  What about you and me.  Do we judge others in the same way?  How righteous is our judgment of those we assume to be unrepentant sinners?  Has God called us to judge? or to love and show His mercy?  Listen on.

Dialogue written by Ted Schroeder. © 2016 Creative Communications for  the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 800-325-9414.  www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Addendum message  written by Rev. Gregory Klotz)

Judas is known for his betrayal of Jesus.  Accepting 30 pieces of silver to turn over Christ to the Jewish authorities for crucifixion betrayed the trust that he was given as treasurer of the disciples.  At times, the tendency is to turn Judas into the victim.  Jesus Christ Superstar does this; he is the main character at times.  And even in our minds we may think, "Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray him" so we may be lead to believe that Judas had no other "option" in God's plan of salvation - that he was the scapegoat.  In actuality, Judas is representative of all of humanity.  He IS the Old Adam, emblematic of creation gone awry.  His desires for personal gain, to move the revolution plot of the Messiah along (politically speaking), is something we all deal with.  Realizing we have betrayed others, by whatever  means, in order to have personal gain, it is difficult to turn back, admit it, seek restitution, and sometimes we just live with the pain; pain that for some turns into suicide.  such was the case with Judas.  Listen to Judas speak and see yourself in his words.

Dialogue written by Ted Schroeder. © 2016 Creative Communications for  the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 800-325-9414.  www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Addendum message  written by Rev. Gregory Klotz)

Tonight is Ash Wednesday.  This period of 40 days is called LENT; a time in which we focus on our need for salvation.  It is a time of repentance and preparation before God to reflect on our mortality and to remind us of our waywardness.  We follow Jesus and His journey to His crucifixion on Good Friday, and His resurrection by which we are all set free from condemnation, sin and death.  Our journey through LENT will be through interviews of characters that are important in the Divine Drama of Chr'ist's salvific work in our lives.  Tonight's interview is with KING DAVID.  Why would we pick to interview him on Ash Wednesday?  Find out. 

Dialogue written by Ted Schroeder. © 2016 Creative Communications for  the Parish, 1564 Fencorp Dr., Fenton, MO 63026. 800-325-9414.  www.creativecommunications.com. All rights reserved. Addendum message  written by Rev. Gregory Klotz)

We all grow up from childhood.  We grow emotionally, physically, mentally and socially without trying and without thinking about it.  Nothing can stop this from happening.  It is a natural process that happens in all creatures.  it is a part of our creaturliness; a part of our flesh and blood-ness.  There is no person that does not outgrow clothes or toys.  We all feared girl or boy cooties when young but then moved on to love these cooties in our teen years.  We all grow and change naturally.  We are also spiritual.  Every creature is spiritual and has a spiritual need to have rely on something as their God - whatever gives them meaning or purpose in life.  The need to know the true God is natural, part of the creature.  But because this world is broken, along with our relationship with God, we do not naturally grow spiritual, otherwise it is outgrown....like the toys you once played with.  If it is not fed, it will not grow.  You may have left your faith in Sunday School and it may have never matured.   Listen and find out if you have outgrown your faith and what to do about it.

Throughout Epiphany Jesus has been revealing who He is to those around Him.  Through power and authority, He has been healing, casting out demons, and forgiving sins ... miraculously.  Not that the miracles are his point, nor are they proof of his Messiahship; they are merely an outpouring of the Father's love making right a creation gone awry.  He turns the world upside down vanquishing sin and reversing nature out of love and compassion.  Now, He turns the disciples world upside down with His teaching on what it means to be a disciple.  Find out His revolutionary view of the world.

My faith is running empty.  So should yours!  in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul takes issue with a problem Christians were having about the tension between what was preached and the proof of that word.  this tension exists for us too.  For example, to say, "I love you" is empty and meaningless unless it is backed up by "proof".  So what is the value of words.  Is the resurrection a fairy-tale story made up of words only?  Listen on...

Luke's story of a miraculous catch that Jesus did brought a new calling to Peter and the disciples.  But the question is...what exactly was the miracle?  If not the two boatloads of fish, then what?  Listen to why Jesus did this and why Luke includes it in his Gospel.

Paul says that these three remain "faith, hope and love" but that the greatest of these is "love."  Why is that, do faith and hope fail at times?  Is he referring to God's love, or to human love?  This 1 Corinthians passages is a well known passage to Christians and non-Christians alike turning 'love' into something of a cure all.  But our love is not powerful nor authoritative....how then, is love the greatest of the three?  listen for more.

In Luke's Gospel, there is an elephant in the room.  You know, when everybody in a room knows there is an issue but nobody wants to talk about it?  Our two texts (Nehemiah and Luke) help to understand what is going on in this synagogue where Jesus was invited to speak and why He chooses to confront the elephant head on.  Find out what (or who) that elephant is!

Sometimes, fairy-tales help us understand imagery that is brought out in the Bible.  One theory is that Biblical stories were so powerful in the history of storytelling, that they also influenced cultural fairy-tales.  "Mirror, mirror on the wall..." shows us who we are, in the light of what we think or imagine that we are.  The truth is, "You are not the fairest in the land."  Painful as it is, the mirror shows we are the princesses, or princes, that we think we are.  But it points us in another direction....find out here.