Hannah prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory”. (1 Samuel 2:1) Hannah had longed for a son for a long time before she gave birth to Samuel, who would become a great prophet. It had been a […]
And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people. (Exodus 32:14) It must be frustrating being God sometimes. Human beings have been created in God’s image and charged and entrusted with the work of caring for the world God made and loves. But we go off the rails all […]
Unleavened bread shall be eaten for seven days; no leavened bread shall be seen in your possession, and no leaven shall be seen among you in all your territory. You shall tell your child on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ (Exodus 13:7-8) We live in […]
But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. (Genesis 50:19-20) This week we explore the story of Joseph. It is a long […]
Abraham believed the Lord; and the Lord[ reckoned it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) Christians generally teach that we are saved, not by works, but by faith. We believe God when God says to us, “I love you,” and knowing that makes it true for us. Not believing it won’t change the fact that […]
And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:8) We often forget why we are here. We are here because God has made us with the intent for us to be God’s partners. You and I exist, at least in part, to do […]
Jesus said to them, “Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him. (Mark 12:17) This is my first blog post after returning from an eight-week sabbatical. As the congregation spent time looking at the core of Lutheran Christian […]
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14 American religion is filled with voices trying to convince us that it is our decision that determines our eternal destiny. Often called “decision theology,” it makes accepting Jesus sound like a choice that you must make. Fail to do so and eternity in hell […]
And they (the crowd) were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commends even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” (Mark 1:27) Ministry (the act of serving) is at the heart of Jesus’ work and even central to his identity. In Mark’s Gospel, […]
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:17-18) The word “immediately” in the verse above is a word we will see often in Mark’s gospel. Things happen fast – one right after the other. Stories are short, to the […]