Come & See
Sunday Gospel Reflections
When Andrew met Jesus, he knew that Jesus was the Messiah. That's why Andrew invited his brother Simon (later called Peter) to come and see for himself.
Come and see who we are.
Come and see God's goodness.
Come and see how we love.
Blessings Or Woes?
Today we’re being asked to re-think what we consider blessings and what we know to be woes.
The world and all of it’s logics isn’t the final story. It’s not what we are living for. We’re here because we’ve heard the voice of Jesus call to us. We’re here because we know there is another way. There is a way where the meek inherit the earth, where the poor are blessed, where those who weep will laugh and where those who laugh now will mourn and weep.
When You Become That Consolation
When you become that consolation, not just to yourself but to so many others, your light shines like the sun. We see you sitting in these pews and your very presence consoles us. You are making a difference and we notice.
We are Not Alone and We Belong to Each Other!
We all belong to one another. And I mean the Church is the body of Christ in the world, but it's even better than that. All of us, living in the world, all of us belong to one another.
The Scriptures — On Their Own— Don’t Tell Us Who God Is.
The Bible by itself is just a book, and the words of that book—by themselves—are not the Living Word. But when we read Scripture alongside the Church’s Worship and Service, and in light of everything Reason tells us about the Universe, then the scriptures become the Living Word. As the bread is the Sacrament of Christ’s Body and the wine the Sacrament of his Blood, so the anthology of strange texts we call the Bible is the Sacrament of the Living Word, but only in the power of the Spirit, the Lord the Giver of Life!
Why Does Jesus Need to Be Baptized?
Friends, I will admit to you that, since I was a child, I have always felt just a little bit nervous when reading the Gospel passages that recount the baptism of Jesus. I have a distinct memory of sitting in church — I can’t have been older than 11 — and listening to Pastor Ron preach about how Jesus insisted that John baptize him and thinking to myself, “Why does Jesus need to be baptized?”