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Life's Ups and Downs

12/16/2018

Zephaniah 3: 14-20; Philippians 4: 4-7; Luke 3: 7-18
December 16, 2018

Stephen Wright is a comedian, he has a brain that works something like mine, but much more imaginative. He is known for one-liners, many in the form of a question. For instance, "Why is it a penny for your thoughts but you have to put your two cents in? Somebody’s making a penny." If Barbie's so popular, why do you have to buy her friends? Who was the cruel person who put the letter S in the word lisp? And why are there five syllables in the word monosyllabic? Questions that make you think and perhaps laugh.
Lucy, on your bulletin cover, asks a not so funny question, “Why can't my life be all ups?” It is a form of the question that human's have asked forever, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

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The Divine Dance

11/18/2018

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1 Samuel 1:4-20; Hebrews 10: 19-25; Mark 13: 1-8
November 18, 2018 Confirmation of Emily Perez

Last Sunday in our Adult Sunday school, we talked about the book of Hebrews. It is a unique book, written to a very specific audience. Much of what we read in it is hard to apply to our Christian faith today. It was written primarily to Jewish Christians and it includes a lot about the high priests, sacrifices, Melchizedek and the duties of the tribes of Israel. In fact, I said last Sunday in adult Sunday school, I'm not sure I ever preached a sermon from Hebrews. But upon further reflection, I know I've preached on Hebrews 12, the faith chapter. And I'm digging in today to look at a small portion of the book. And there is some strange stuff here too. The author writes of entering the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh). And he writes that we have a great priest over the house of God. Not the way we usually talk about our worship. And much of this book is about worship.

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Politics, Partisanship and Pelagius

11/11/2018

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Ruth 3: 1-5, 4: 13-17; Hebrews 9: 24-28; Mark 12: 38-44
November 11, 2018

In this gospel reading, we heard Jesus warning his listeners about the scribes, then he contrasted them with the widow who gave her mites. I want to re-word Jesus' quote to use a different class of people to contrast a humble widow with.
“Beware of the politicians, who like to walk around in blue suits and red ties, and to be greeted with respect in the shopping malls, and to have the best seats in the house and places of honor at banquets! They devour peoples taxes and for the sake of appearance give long speeches.”
We just got through another election cycle. On the state and national levels, we were inundated with negative ads. The results are now in and did you hear what the pollsters have reported on Tuesday's outcomes? The consensus on the election is that 100% of Americans think 50% of Americans have lost their minds.

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Selective Hearing

10/28/2018

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Psalm 23, Hebrews7: 23-28, Mark 10: 46-52
October 28, 2018

It is with some regret and humility that today, I am admitting to the fact that I have selective hearing. Julie was telling me that just the other day...well, that's what I think she said, I wasn't really listening. We men have a terrible reputation as selective listeners. The cartoon on your bulletin isn't all that far off. But selective listening isn't all bad. In fact, it is essential for every one of us to develop this trait; without it we'd be inundated with voices and noise. We need to be able to pick out particular voices in a crowd or it would all be just gobbledegook. For those of you adjusting to hearing aids, I understand that this is what you experience when you start; you hear so much you have a hard time selecting the voice that you are listening for.
Now you may wonder why I'm talking about selective hearing when our gospel reading is about Bartimaeus receiving his sight. As I review the story, perhaps you will pick up what my angle is.

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Life's Ups and Downs

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