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Jonah: From Running Away to Embracing Radical Love

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     Destruction. That’s what awaited Jonah as he walked into the town of Nineveh. Nobody wants to be the bearer of that news! But he’d recently been through a rather traumatic event, and so there was no turning back from the task that he was told to do by God. I don’t want to get too deep into it, but how many times in the last ten-odd years have we heard that “The end of the world is coming!” The biggest of which I remember happened in 2012 because of the Mayan calendars, along with other conspiracy theories that there would be a collision of Earth with another planet, aliens arriving, and a bunch of other nonsense. But people were caught up in it! We don’t want to be the last ones at the end of the world, do we? Just because someone has personal convictions doesn’t mean that they have proof to back them up, right - I mean - there were movies made about this, and it just added to the anxieties people feel toward ancient prophecies. We’ve lived through the Y2K scare at the turn
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From Legal Eagle to Servant of Grace: Unpacking Jesus' Radical Love in Matthew 5

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    Introduction      Most of you know that my background has been in the legal field. I earned my bachelor’s degree in public affairs from IPFW, including political science, philosophy, and public policy classes. One of my classes was specifically in law & philosophy. At the time, I thought I was a hot shot, wanting to discuss what my books and classes were discussing. But now - not only can I not remember it, but I’ve also learned over the years… no one cares. This is unfortunate because we have so many laws; we should figure out why they exist. Right?        The Purpose of Laws      So - in my opinion, laws are made - whether they’re religious, natural, or legislated laws - really, what we’re doing here is regulating relationships, how things relate to one another. For example, a law on the books says it’s illegal to fish with your bare hands. Not sure how that one came about, but… it’s real. You may be wondering what kind of relationship that is regulating. I’d love to tell you
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
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Break Forth - Isaiah 58:1-12 (Epiphany 4A)

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Some weeks, I can really get away with interpreting things, and giving you different perspectives on what the scripture is about. But this week- that skill seems to have been taken from me. There’s not much wiggle room in our text today for interpretation, no “high mountain” language where it could be looked at from different perspectives. Today, we’re given this selection that is pretty straightforward. If only the message was as easy to say as it is to interpret. Isaiah’s people are all about worship. They can’t wait to get into church. If only Isaiah knew how good he had it. They delight with the thought of God, and drawing nearer to Him. Here in our modern times, it doesn’t seem that our contemporary church can get that kind of excitement up for that, even at the holidays of Christmas and Easter! There’s so many other options, from coffee houses and bakeries, some people in the retail industries work, sports happen whether professional or kids, sometimes there are even practices o
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
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Balance - February 2023 Newsletter

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  Now that we are all about a month into this new year - let’s take a moment and assess: how are you doing? Have you gotten off track? I hope you don't feel like everything's gone off the rails! But this is only the second month of the year, let's get back on track and keep going together.   This year, I decided that I would come up with a word for the year - sort of a focus. Maybe you’d like to do that too, or you already have. The word I’ve chosen for 2023 is BALANCE. With the word, it coordinates with a Bible verse - 2 Peter 3:17 - which says, “My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance.”  We all have influences around us, and that’s what makes our community so great. But as we get out beyond our walls, there are wider ranges of what people believe. So to be true to your faith, make sure you are testing what you are hearing against what the Bible says. Dis
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
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Do Justice, Love Kindness, and Walk Humbly - Micah 6:1-8 (Epiphany 3A)

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  Let’s be honest, I know the title of my sermon gives it away, but I’m going to try really hard not to skip ahead to verse 8 and to focus on the whole text. So let’s start at the beginning - this is one of my favorite verses, so let’s get into it.   Chapter 6 begins with God talking (through Micah) whether it’s a courtroom scene or not (scholars are divided about this). Ultimately - the fundamental relationship between God and people has been broken and God is trying to figure out what to do… how can God and the creation come back together in harmony?  God is challenging Israel in their present trouble. This isn’t a challenge where judgment is the end of the line, although it feels like it, doesn’t it? From Israel’s position, it feels to them like God has been silent all this time. But God responds with having them recall the exodus from Egypt, when the Lord redeemed them as they were slaves. The Lord provided for them with Moses and his family, and then also the miraculous crossin
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
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Be Called - Isaiah 45:1-7 (Epiphany 2A)

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I came across a fact that made me feel old the other day. I know - what do I really know about that, right? It has been 15 years ago now since Iron Man came out. You know - the one with Robert Downey, Jr. being taken into a cave and somehow came out alive but with a bionic heart and a palpable need to avenge the wrong that had been done to him.   Now - look how much has changed, even just in how movies are made. How many of them are superheroes willing to do whatever it takes against evil, and well - usually maligned billionaires with trust funds and government contracts. But there is a sense of public good, a collective interest that is being imposed upon in these movies.  Iron Man is one of my favorite movies from the whole Marvel universe, as they call it. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't aged well, but what it has is a hero who gets a call, gets named, and then tries to bring about restoration.  I'm sure you all can probably guess by now, but as a kid growing up, Bat
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Location: Fort Wayne, IN, USA
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