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VBS: The Light Shines in the Darkness...

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“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated it.” John 1:5 You might think that the most-repeated command in the Bible is “Do not sin….” Actually, “Do not fear,” and its sibling command to have hope, appear many more times than anything about sin—I count at least 103 times the Bible says, “Do not fear!” In the end, I’m sure that the opposite of faith is not unbelief, but fear. Fear paralyzes us, fear causes us to be blinded to the humanity of others, and, most importantly, fear destroys hope. Christian hope is not optimism—not a childish wish-fulfillment dream that we’ll get a magic wand and, poof, everything will be pink and blue flowers. Christian hope is a life lived in the certain knowledge that although there is darkness, the Light of God will never be put out, and eventually the earth will be filled with the light and glory of God as the waters cover the sea. Think about the best “children’s” literature and movies—The Lion King…Harry Potter…The Lord of th...
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Why should we care about the Trinity?

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This first Sunday after Pentecost is called “Trinity Sunday.” Since we all know the Trinity is an inexplicable mystery, rectors usually make their assistants preach on this Sunday—but Fr. Bob is moving this weekend….and so, here I am.  Why does something that can’t be really explained matter so much to our faith? The word “Trinity” doesn’t even show up in Scripture—why should we care? Well, here’s why, according to two great living theologians: as Will Willimon puts it, the Trinity is our best way to tell the story of “God’s rich, relentless love for us.” And Paul Neuchterlein says, “The Trinity is not a logical puzzle for us to solve—the Trinity is God’s Love Story for us to be swept up in.”… God’s love story…let’s explore that a little. The first person of the Trinity is God the Father: God, the Creator of all, who is not, therefore, a created “being.” God, who is utterly beyond our understanding and our knowing, outside of our time and space. This kind of abstract, distant God h...
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Pentecost 2022 - The Birthday of our journey together as new Rector and church family.

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Lectionary readings This prayer is from the great American theologian and longtime Duke professor Stanley Hauerwas: Almighty and ever-loving God, we give you thanks, on this Day of Pentecost, that you did not leave us alone but came to us, in the power of your Holy Spirit, and breathed your life-giving power into every life gathered here this day. You found a way to get to each person here, even when we had no idea of how to get to you. Furthermore, you refused to let us be alone, all locked up in ourselves. You found a way to thrust us into the church, to drag us into fellowship with a group of people whom we would probably never have joined if you had left us to our own devices. By your Spirit you put us into a new, diverse family [not just here, but] one that stretches from one end of the earth to the other. In all this, we give thanks that, in the power of the Holy Spirit, you have saved us from ourselves. Amen! Pentecost is often referred to as the birthday of the Church. What a ...
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Invitation to a Lenten Discipline: James and Media Bias

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Having a hard time deciding on your Lenten discipline this year? Look no further--I have one based on teachings from the Letter of James:  Burning palms for Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger. For human anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness (1:19b-20)...If someone thinks he is religious yet does not bridle his tongue, and so deceives his heart, his religion is futile (1:26-27)...The tongue is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse people made in God’s image. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. These things should not be so, my brothers and sisters (3:8b-10)...But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and not hypocritical. And the fruit that consists of righteousness is planted in peace among those who make peace (3:17-18). As Christians, we are commanded to lead ...
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#blessed, #woe

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 Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God ( Luke 6:20 ). This is Super Bowl weekend…anybody join a betting pool on who’s going to win, Cincinnati or Los Angeles? This competition wouldn’t really be very interesting, would it, if there weren’t a winner and a loser? The Super Bowl is, of course, a zero-sum situation: whatever is gained by one side is lost by the other; one team’s success is possible only with the other team’s loss. One of the important underlying themes in today’s Gospel, I think, is a reminder that our lives as disciples in the grace-filled Kingdom of God are not part of a zero-sum game.  As you were just listening to the deacon read the Gospel, you might have been thinking, “Wait a minute…these Beatitudes, they don’t sound quite like the ones I remember! What about the merciful? What happened to the meek inheriting the earth?” Well, as you know, the four different Gospel writers tell their stories of Jesus to four different audiences, and...
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Are you a re-gifter?

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 Now: about things relating to the spirit’s work, my brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to remain uninformed… To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ( 1 Cor 12:1, 7 ) We just finished the twelve days of Christmas, and I’m curious…did any of you re-gift anything? I did a Google search, and found several etiquette websites with articles like “Nine rules for regifting” and “The Seven Simple Rules of Regifting” and “Five Things that Are OK to Regift, and Five Things that Are Not.” All of this—and even the term re-gifting—thanks to a 1995 episode of Seinfeld. Paul in today’s reading from Corinthians is telling us that, where the works of the Spirit are concerned, a sort of holy regifting is not only OK, it’s what is actually required of us! So what is it that we are to be regifting? What is the spirit’s work? Paul’s teaching on the work of the spirit makes it clear he’s not just talking about simply “lip service” like speaking in tongues or evangelizin...
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Stir Up Sunday

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Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us...(Collect for Advent III ) One of the sermon resources I used this week had this cartoon: The first panel shows someone looking up and shouting to the heavens, ‘God! If you’re up there, tell us what we should do!’ The second panel has a voice coming from the clouds, “Feed the hungry, house the homeless, establish justice.” In the third pane the person has an alarmed expression, “Just testing!” they say. Then the voice answers back, “Me too.” This Third Sunday of Advent is called Gaudete Sunday—“Rejoice” Sunday. Instead of purple candles and purple vestments—reminders that Advent is sometimes called the “Little Lent”—we light the pink candle and we wear pink rose vestments. The prophet Zephaniah—usually a pretty somber, doom-and-gloom guy—today says, “Sing aloud, O daughter Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!” Instead of a Psalm we read the First Song of Isaiah, “Therefore you...
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