“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” Spiritual Yearning (based on Nicodemus)
Experience the Joy of God's Love for You!
Sermons (Page 8)
During Lent we journey with all those around the world who will be baptized at the Easter Vigil. In today’s gospel Jesus tells Nicodemus that he must be born of water and Spirit. At the font we are a given a new birth as children of God. As God made a covenant with Abraham, in…
“Contemporary Encounters of Growing in Hope” Temptation in the Wilderness
Today’s gospel tells of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. His forty-day fast becomes the basis of our Lenten pilgrimage. In the early church Lent was a time of intense preparation for those to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. This catechetical focus on the meaning of faith is at the heart of our Lenten journey…
On Ash Wednesday we begin our forty-day journey toward Easter with a day of fasting and repentance. Marking our foreheads with dust, we acknowledge that we die and return to the earth. At the same time, the dust traces the life-giving cross indelibly marked on our foreheads at baptism. While we journey through Lent to…
We pray that you have felt God’s presence and love in your life this week, in every way you have needed that reassurance and strength! We continue to hold in our prayers all affected by the Turkey-Syrian earthquake, the war in Ukraine, & ongoing acts of violence in so many communities… This weekend is the…
In today’s reading from Deuteronomy we are called to choose life by loving and obeying God. Much of today’s gospel reading echoes portions of the Ten Commandments. Jesus’ instructions to the crowd reveal a pattern of behavior that honors both God and the neighbor, resulting in life and health for the whole community. We too…
As the sun re-appears this weekend, we give thanks for the never-dimming light of hope that shines on us always in God’s Son! In this season of Epiphany, we remember how Jesus brought hope to so many lives in his ministry of love and grace. Last week, we heard Jesus share God’s blessings with the…
Who are the blessed ones of God? For Micah, they are those who do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. For Paul, they are the ones who find wisdom in the weakness of the cross. For Jesus, they are the poor, the meek, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who…
Jesus begins his Public ministry by calling fishers to leave their nets and follow him. In Jesus the kingdom of God has come near. We who have walked in darkness have seen a great light. We see the light most profoundly in the cross-as God suffers with us and all who are oppressed by sickness…