“Family Matters?” – Sermon Text: September 10, 2023

Jesus, it turns out, was probably an embarrassment to his family.  They’ve heard that Jesus “has gone out of his mind,” so they have come to “restrain him,” according to earlier information in Mark.  Perhaps the family has been listening to folks like the Pharisees who speculate that Jesus is...

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Fair Living God – Sermon Text: September 3, 2023

One of the places I lived in Chicago was near a vacant lot where men began gathering around 6 a.m. every day, waiting for someone to come by and hire them.  I saw them while I rode a bus to my own job.  There were often a few persistent stragglers there at the end of the day.  Maybe they had no...

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Creating Refugia: Reorientation – Sermon Text: August 27, 2023

The Israelites are at a hinge point.  A pivot point.  A watershed moment.  A moment in their collective life where everything is about to change. We’re familiar with such moments ourselves.  In our personal lives, choices about jobs or spouses or divorces or living arrangements or medical care or...

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