In the Parish

19th Sunday after Pentecost -- Faith

Readings: Habakkuk 1:1-4. 2:1-4 Psalm 37:1-9 2Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10 All of the readings for today deal, in one way or another with faith.  As often as we talk about faith, we need to talk about what faith is and is not.

3rd Sunday after Pentecost -- Galatians and Union with Christ

Reading: Galatians 2:11-21 While Paul, earlier in Galatians, asserted his authority to proclaim the gospel through the commission of Christ, he does so to ensure the gospel is not compromised.  For Paul, the gospel that we are justified by faith in Christ (or faithfulness of Christ) apart from the law means that the Law or traditions or works are not the basis for making distinct the people of God.  Rather, a reorientation is necessary to see that it is Christ's union with the chosen that marks us now as the people of God.

2nd Sunday after Pentecost -- Galatians and the Gospel

Readings: 1 Kings 17:17-24 Psalm 30 Galatians 1:11-24 Luke 7:11-17 Paul's letter to the Galatians will be studied over the next few weeks where Paul demands that his authority to proclaim the gospel comes from Jesus himself.

Pentecost Sunday -- Babel: the Sequel

Readings: Genesis 11:1-9 Psalm 104 Acts 2:1-21 John 14:8-27 In Acts we hear of the day of Pentecost where God gets around the problem of Babel, not by re-creating the original language, but by sending the Spirit so that the good news might be made known to all nations.

7th Sunday of Easter -- Amen, Come Lord Jesus

Readings: Acts 16:16-34 Psalm 97 Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21 John 17:20-26 Jesus says, "I am the alpha and the omega."  We pray for Jesus to return and bring an end to the brokenness of the world.

6th Sunday of Easter -- The Spirit and Remembering

Readings:

Acts 16:9-15

Psalm 67

Revelation 21:10, 22 - 22:5 John 14:23-29 In John 14, Jesus seeks to assure his disciples that all will be well when he departs.  He promises the coming of the Advocate, the Holy Spirit to help them keep his word and remember what he said.

5th Sunday of Easter -- Good Beginnings

Readings: Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 148 Revelation 21:1-6 John 13:31-35 Peter is granted a vision that moves beyond the covenant that distinguishes Jew from Gentile and begins to include Gentiles in God's vision of the Kingdom.

4th Sunday of Easter -- Great and Glorious Visions

Readings: Acts 9:36-43 Psalm 23 Rev. 7:9-17 John 10:22-30 In the midst of grand visions, we have a story of a widow being raised.  God's grand vision is not just for the big things, but includes those who society does not think to be so important.

2nd Sunday of Easter -- Jesus and Disbelief

Readings: Acts 5:27-32 Psalm 150 Revelation 1:4-8 John 20:19-31 Every year, the lectionary appoints the story of Thomas as the gospel lesson for the second Sunday of Easter.  Doubting Thomas, we call him.  But focusing on Thomas avoids the crux of the passage.  Jesus breathes his Spirit upon his followers, and sends them out.  Even in our disbelief Jesus draws near to us to bring about our faith, so that we may witness to God's mighty acts.

Easter -- April 4, 2010 -- New and Unimagined

Readings: Acts 10:34-43 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 1 Corinthians 15:19-26 Luke 24:1-12 Jesus' resurrection from the dead is not just another miracle.  Jesus being raised by the glory of the Father is the mark of the beginning of the new age of God where this current age and its brokenness will be ended.