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Who Are WE?

10/25/2015

Psalm 34: 1-8, 19-22; Hebrews 7: 23-28; Mark 10: 46-52
October 25, 2015

I'm doing something quite different this morning. This is the Sunday that we recognize the significant history of the reformation. The reformation, briefly—it's hard to summarize such a big event briefly—so I'll quote Wikipedia of all things, the reformation “was the 16th century schism from the Catholic Church in Europe initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin, Huldrych Zwingli and other early Protestant Reformers.” It marked the beginning of the Protestant churches. There were two main tracks-Lutheranism and the Reformed.

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Are Ye Able?

10/18/2015

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Click Psalm 104: 1-9, 24, 35c; Hebrews 5: 1-10, Mark 10: 35-45
October 18, 2015

Lake Placid, New York hosted the winter Olympics in 1980. Most of us think of the “Miracle on Ice” when we think of that event. There is a much lesser known story about how power and privilege are not always played out the way we'd think. The King and Queen of Sweden were there to see their hockey team play. They arrived at the hockey arena and showed the ticket-taker their tickets. He wouldn't let them in because the tickets were for another game on another day. The king explained they did have the correct tickets but they left them in the car. He played the “don't you know who I am card”...couldn't you make and exception for us please? “You see, I'm the King of Sweden.” The ticket-taker responded, “Sure you are...and I suppose this lady is the queen.” This was New Your you know.
So they had to go back to their car to get the right tickets. As the king and queen hurried around the corner, they arrived just in time to see their car being towed away.
We'd like to think that having a position like a king or queen would mean you could eliminate common problems like this. Most people would like a position of power and honor; positions where you get what you want. That's what James and John were looking for in the gospel reading today—honor and glory; power and authority. "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory."

here to edit.

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October 11th, 2015

10/11/2015

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Psalm 22: 1-15 , Hebrews 4: 12-16, Mark 10: 17-31

October 11, 2015 Ecumen

The rich young man asked the question all of us who believe in heaven ask at some time or another--”What must I do to get in?” Little Billy had a plan. He was in trouble again and his mother asked him, “How do you expect to get to heaven?” Billy thought for a moment then said, “I'll do what I do here, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door. When Jesus says, 'For heaven's sake, either come in or stay out', I'll go in.”

In a preschool Sunday school class the teacher asked her youngsters, “If you would like to go to heaven, raise your hand.” They all did except Justin. When the teacher asked Justin why he wouldn't like to go to heaven, he replied, “I'm sorry, but I can't. My mother told me to come straight home after Sunday school.

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Wow, What a gift!

10/4/2015

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Wow, What a Gift

Psalm 26, Hebrews 1: 1-4; 2: 5-12, Mark 10: 2-16

October 4, 2015

Last time I preached, I gave 2 sermons for the price of one. I could do that again as today has two quite different portions of the gospel. A. the question of divorce put to Jesus to test him. B. People bringing little children to have Jesus bless them. My sermon this morning is on B, but briefly on A, I think we make a mistake if we take this passage to be strictly about marriage and divorce. It is about God's will and how we humans end up distorting it. I believe he could have given much the same advice about the environment and our mistreatment of it or food and our overeating—what God has designed as good we too often abuse and sin against God and one another. We make too much of this passage if we make divorce out to be a greater sin than others because there are two paragraphs about it in Mark's gospel.

Now on to the second part—the people were bringing their children to be blessed

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Who Are WE?

Are Ye Able?

October 11th, 2015

Wow, What a gift!

Pastor Gordy

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