No Distance is Too Great for God, March 17 Worship

Jesus laments over those who are far from him. Looking out over the most spiritual city in all the world Jesus sees the emotional distance that is ours, everywhere. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. . . . How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Luke 13:34). The distance between us and God never deters His faithfulness to us. He is relentless in His pursuit of us, longing to gather us in grace and fill our emptiness. Jesus invites you to come to Him. During the season of Lent we can take on the challenge of naming the things that keep us at a distance from God. Together we pray to  move a little closer to Him who longs to gather us together as the children of God under the wings of His strength.

Our Father's Word, March 10 Worship

Jesus goes out into the desert to fast and pray to prepare himself for what is ahead. Somehow He must show the world that He is the Son of God. Out in the desert the devil confronts Jesus with temptations hoping to derail the vital work of Jesus. For everything the devil throws at him Jesus answers by quoting the Word of God. With this simple faithfulness to His Father’s promises Jesus shows us who He is, The Son of the Living God.

The Transfiguration, The Glory that Sustains Us, March 3 Worship

The Day of the Transfiguration of our Lord serves as a transition time from the general ministry of Jesus to the very focused latter part of His life on earth and to the one-way journey to Jerusalem that brings Him to the cross.  There is a sense of urgency at the time of the Transfiguration---something initially missed by Peter the disciple, who wanted to set up tents on the high mountain for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah.  In dramatic fashion, Jesus reminded His disciples that staying in the glory on the mountain was not an option.  The fulfillment of Christ's mission was down on the plain, among the people for whom He had come to sacrifice Himself. As we relive the moment of Transfiguration on the mountain we celebrate that God can sustain us through the dark, arduous valleys we encounter in life. Jesus alone has revealed the great glory of God which, through the eyes of the disciples, we are privileged to glimpse today, and which we will see forever in eternity.

God's Limitless Love, February 24 Worship

Jesus taught many radical things. Today we hear two of His teachings that can seem nearly impossible: “Love your enemies” and “Judge not.” Left on our own, we think enemies deserve retaliation and words of judgment are often deserved. But Jesus wanted His followers to be inspired to make different choices after absorbing His spirit and character. Once we have seen His abundant mercy for everyone and experienced His love that is without any sort of judgement we are then ready to live out a love far greater then we could ever conceive of on our own.

Jesus Is With Us for Real, Worship February 17

Jesus understands that our lives will include ups and downs. There will be great days of joy, and there will be days filled with challenges. What Jesus wants us to embrace is a faith big enough to see that God is with us for everything. We can look for His goodness and mercy in the unfolding of any and every day. Jesus hopes that we will keep looking for Him at every twist and turn. God is with us for real life.

Let Jesus Lead, February 10 Worship

Jesus jumps into Simon Peter’s fishing boat and asks to go out into deep water. Peter was tired and reluctant. There was no one else who could have inspired Peter to go against his own inclinations and follow such a request. But once out in the deep water Peter and his crew caught such a large number of fish they now feared they might sink. Like Peter and his fellow fisherman God might ask us to go forward in directions that raise our fear and concern. But when we let God lead He will always be good and we will be blessed.

Listening to Jesus, February 3rd Worship

Sometimes a parent will catch their child getting a little too excited and need to ask them to use their “indoor” voice. Each of us have many different voices and we don’t always use them in an appropriate way. In contrast God has a lot of different ways in which He can speak to us, and He always gets it right. In our Gospel lesson we see Jesus teaching in the synagogue, healing a man possessed by an evil spirit, healing Simon’s mother-in-law, healing more of the sick and diseased, casting out demons. In each one of these situations He uses a different tone of voice. If we listen carefully God may use different voices with us, sometimes challenging us to live better lives, and then at other times comforting us with an accepting voice that says we are ok just the way we are. God can speak to us in a variety of ways. Are you listening?

Grateful to See Jesus, Epiphany 3 Worship, January 27

When Jesus came back to His hometown as a young man his neighbors and even those who had watched him grow up could not see that He was the Son of the Living God. In our own age there are those who cannot see who Jesus is. It takes an open heart and an open mind to recognize who Jesus is. It takes reason and imagination. Most of all it takes the Holy Spirit to introduce us to the personality and character of Jesus. The Spirit can lead each of us on our own unique journey to see that Jesus is our Savior. Today we rejoice to be able to recognize Jesus as worthy of all our thanks, praise, and grateful worship.

A Taste of the Sacred, Epiphany 2 Worship January 20th

Jesus went to a wedding and turned water into wine. It was the first of his many miracles and by it Jesus was revealing something amazing. Go to a wedding and you will probably feel like something sacred is happening. But it can be hard to define just what that is. By what Jesus did at this wedding He established that what is holy and sacred can be very real. Real enough to actually taste. God is really present now with us and that changes everything. God has this incredible ability to turn one thing into another. He can turn water into an eternal promise. He can turn bread and wine into His body and blood. He can turn a bad day into a good day. He can turn a hopeless situation into one in which we are blessed. He can turn death into life. We can always hope in God. He is the sacred and holy come into our lives. 



The Voice over the Waters, The Baptism of Our Lord, January 13th

There are so many voices all competing for our attention. Even when we don’t realize it, we are listening to the sounds of life that surround us. What do those voices say? What choruses do they sing? What refrains do they repeat? The voice we gather to hear this day stands in stark contrast to the multitude of others in our world. “The voice of the Lord is over the waters,” says Psalm 29:3. As He did for ancient Israel—and as He did for His only-begotten Son—our Father does for us today: He speaks over us words of life! At Jesus’ baptism the voice of the Father was heard from heaven. Today we celebrate the voice of God’s affirming love in our midst.