As we continue our Advent theme, “From These Roots,” and look at Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, we see the name Ruth. Ruth choose compassion over economic stability, cultural norms, and personal benefit when she decided to accompany her mother-in-law to a foreign land.

Many readers are startled to see the name Rahab in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. Known in the New Testament and church history as “Rahab the Harlot,” we first meet Rahab in the book of Joshua, where she betrays her people and rescues Israel’s spies, because she could see what God was up to. That act […]

For the Advent season, we are following the theme, “From These Roots,” as we trace the lineage given in the Gospel According to Matthew and especially listen to the #herstory of the four women who are listed there. Today’s sermon is about Tamar, a woman caught in a patriarchal system and betrayed by the one […]

The last Sunday in many church calendars is called “Christ the King Sunday,” a fairly new celebration on the church’s calendar. We wonder if the symbolism of “king” is still meaningful today and how the confrontation between Jesus and Pontius Pilate shapes our understanding of what “king” means.

Life deals us many blows, but God gives us the power not just endure our suffering, but the power to turn our suffering into glory!”This means we can live through the worst that life can do to us, “while joyfully giving thanks to God,” because not even death can defeat God’s power! Colossians 1:11-20 is […]

The sixth and final story in our series of “Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs” is Mark’s “feeding of the 4,000” story, an echo of the Manna story. To the disciples’ misguided question, “How can anyone feed these people in the desert?” Jesus offers a better question: “What do you have?” That may be the […]

The fifth story in our series of “Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs” is the story of the Last Supper, when Jesus and the twelve reenact the Passover story. It is there that Jesus says, “One of you will betray me.” Yet, even in that betrayal, God was at work redeeming the world.

The fourth story in our series of “Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs” is a command that the people of Israel received while still on their journey. It looked forward to a day when they would be prosperous, with the warning, “Do not forget that you were once a slave.” The memory will show them […]

The third story in our series of “Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs” is the occasion when the people of Israel crossed over into the Promised Land and began observing the Feast of Unleavened Bread. At that point, the Manna stopped and they became able to provide for themselves.

The second story in our series of “Following a Trail of Bread Crumbs” is the story of the Manna, “Bread from heaven,” which was a gift and a test in response to the people’s murmuring.