Intersections

       We are blessed to have teachers and former teachers in our congregation, so let’s try a quick experiment. Take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Think about a time when you learned something new, whether a skill or subject. It could have been at home, here at church, or anywhere.      Now, I want you to imagine teaching someone whatever that was. How would you teach what you had learned?      Ok - let’s come back now.       Our scripture today comes from the gospel of Mark, and let’s set the scene quick. Our reading chronologically happens after Jesus’ final arrival into Jerusalem, so this is after Palm Sunday. Since we’re not in that Lenten headspace, I just wanted to frame the story up. He’s at the top of his popularity, riding the wave through the streets of the city. During the week this is happening, he’s been confronted by religious leaders, whether Pharisees or Sadducees, and GENERALLY, they ...

  It has arrived - the final week of our series on Job. This reading seems to tie it all up, and hopeful even. But let’s take a step back for a minute. The title for the sermon today comes from verse 5, “My ears had heard of you, but now my eye has seen!” He had survived the suffering and accepted God’s power. Job had been told about all of this, as the Scripture says, but now… it was real. It wasn’t enough to hear of the grace; it needed to be experienced. On the outside looking in, Job appears to be blind. But maybe it was the darkness of his soul that we offered in our prayer earlier. If there is no light no hope, are we blind or just without resources? Blindness has several definitions. The first is the apparent lack of eyesight. But more relevant, it means unquestioning - as in loyalty without question, having no regard for rational thought (as in a blind choice), or even without all information to consider data without bias (like in science for a single- or double-blind test...

  As we’ve been alluding to for a couple of weeks now, our guy Job has finished talking with God, and this week, it’s God’s turn to respond. Now - here’s where we’ve been, as a quick recap of the story the last couple of weeks. Week 1, we learned about Job and how he was a super awesome guy, upright and genuinely faithful. He had lost nearly everything in his life: his children, his business, and his wealth, and then his health was attacked. This is part of the story that the adversary - imagine, again, a dissenter on God’s executive council, wanted to prove that even the most righteous would curse God when their life was reduced to pain and anguish.  Last week , Job talked to his friends, responding to his pain and suffering, wondering where God was in the midst, and thinking that he had been abandoned. Job asked for a meeting with the Almighty so that he could plead his case and be acquitted so that he could be released from suffering. Well - here we are in the third we...

       Complaining is the worst. I mean - with all that wasted energy, you could do so much! Good thing we don’t have any complainers among us! I certainly wouldn’t know any in my household.  Or even all over the Bible! That may be a reason why we can’t get more people to church; there’s so much complaining - just in our scripture. From the Israelites right after they were released from captivity to even Jesus complained about how stubborn people can be. I saw the photo that's on the cover of the bulletin. It inspired me because I imagined the man shouting his complaints into the void, much like yelling at the TV or writing comments on the internet.       Now, you know of those televangelists who love to talk about their faith and prosperity, that God can accomplish anything.  Complaining is the worst. I mean - with all that wasted energy, you could do so much! Good thing we don’t have any complainers among us! I certainly wouldn’t kno...

  Notes from the Pastor’s Desk Welcome to October! My house will certainly be busy this month. It’s Birthday Month! It seemed like we planned it this way, but Tadjena’s birthday is on September 30th, followed by Aaron’s birthday on October 6th, and then Ali’s on October 18th. It’s a packed three weeks there…  In the meantime, we will be starting a sermon series through the book of Job, in the Old Testament. The theme of the month will be OVERCOMING DIFFICULTY. This seems like a simple concept, but for some - this is very challenging. When faced with a new situation, our nerves are activated, and it can end up being taken as a fight or flight response. But after the response is over, if we find ourselves in a less than desirable place, questions, doubts, and regret can derail progress in staying positive and willing to tackle hard circumstances.  Are you feeling stuck in your faith life? That may be a difficulty you’re having trouble getting past. Here a few id...