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The Lost and the Not Lost

3/31/2019

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Joshua 5: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21; Luke 15: 1-3, 11b-32
March 31, 2019


There's an old story about a man who went to the movies, and upon seeing the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer roaring lion, decided he had already seen that movie, and so left. And that's a danger for some of our gospel stories, especially the ones we hear every year during Lent. In today's gospel, Jesus tells a parable and you may know the parable as soon as he begins, "There was a man who had two sons.” It is one of the most familiar and well loved parables in the scriptures. But as we listen to it today, let's listen with fresh ears; listen with the realization that, while John describes the audience as tax collectors and sinners and Pharisees and scribes, it was most likely directed at the Scribes and Pharisees. So let's try to listen to it as new to our hearing and as his listeners would have heard it.

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You Can't Make Me

3/17/2019

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Genesis 15: 1-12; Philippians 3: 17-4:1; Luke 13: 31-35
March 17, 2019


Jim is a man in his late sixties. He still works hard at his job, and worries about the ebb and flow of money that comes in. It causes him to have many sleepless nights.
But what really causes Jim to worry is his grown daughter and her children. His daughter is in and out of drug treatment programs, and long ago she left her three children with Jim and his wife. Now that his wife has passed away, it’s only Jim. His daughter calls about twice a year. His daughter’s oldest girl, Sarah, is around sixteen…and she’s beginning to remind Jim of her mother.
One night, Sarah is about to leave the house on a date with her older boyfriend.
Jim and Sarah have been arguing again. And Jim has been worrying about her, not knowing exactly what to do. He would do anything for her…anything to keep her from winding up with the same problems as her mother.
Then, a car is honking its horn out front. Jim is slumped down in his chair, exhausted from a fourteen hour day. Before Sarah steps through the screen door, Jim says, “Remember—you must be home by 12 o’clock!” His granddaughter stops at the far end of the living room, turns, and says with a face that is half sneer, half smile, “You can't make me!!!” The screen door slams behind her and Jim knows she is right. He is powerless to make her do much of anything anymore.
How many of us have been in similar situations? Powerless to make our children toe the line? Or powerless to make our spouse act the way we think they should? Can we make our neighbors be quiet in the middle of the night? Park their cars in their garage instead of the front yard? Can we make others treat us with kindness or respect? There are many things we can't make others do.  ​

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The Temptations

3/10/2019

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Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Romans 10: 8b-13; Luke 4: 1-13
March 10, 2019 1st Sunday in Lent


When you read my sermon title today, what did you think of? Did any of you start humming “My Girl” or “Just My Imagination (running away with me)? I typed in the title and that's kindof what happened to me—Julie was in her sewing room and heard me singing “It's just My Imagination” and she called back, “No it's not!”
But the singing group was not what I was thinking of when I typed in the temptations, it was the three temptations Jesus faced in today's gospel reading. By the way, let me know when you get tired of my Israel stories but we stopped at a roadside stand in Jericho...Julie bought some dates there. We looked across the valley at the hills and were shown a specific spot and told, “That's where the devil tempted Jesus.” I can't imagine how anyone would claim to know that, it was wilderness and Jesus is big business in Israel so it pays to identify such a site. In fact, we see just a glimpse of desire to profit from knowing Jesus in the second temptation.

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The Inclusivity of God By Amy Levinski

3/3/2019

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Reflecting on the sermon Peter delivered in Acts, I am struck this morning with the extremity of the lack of partiality God shows. The inclusivity that God embodies is upsetting, it is exciting, and it is world reversing. It is a reflection of the Church and its response to God’s grace. ​

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    Pastor Gordy

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