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Acts 28:17-31

AP
Al Postma

General Reflections: “Let me tell you about that pastor.” I’ve had a conversation with a pastor who was new to a church and I asked him what he thought about his predecessor. His reply: “I’ve never met the pastor, but I don’t like him!” As a new pastor, there were people who had shared their…

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Mark 8:1-13

JS
Joel Schreurs

As the great philosopher Yogi Berra once said: It feels like deja vu, all over again. There are the hungry crowds, stranded in a “remote place” (much too far from the nearest McDonald’s).  There is Jesus and his bleeding heart, ever “compassionate” but also (from the disciples’ point of view, at least) ever impractical.  And…

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James 1:1-18

JS
Joel Schreurs

When was the last time you experienced pure, unrestrained joy? For most of us, “joy” is something that goes hand in hand with the best moments in our lives.  It erupts, unbidden, when everything is going our way.  At the birth of a child.  On our wedding day.  After opening an acceptance letter to our…

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Matthew 13:10-17

MS
Mary Stegink

Comments, Observations, and Questions to Consider Thus far in the Gospel of Matthew Jesus has been busy.  He’s been teaching and preaching, he’s been healing, he’s been explaining, he’s been gathering disciples, and he’s been traveling.  And, here in chapter 13 he does something new.  He tells his audience a story – a parable –…

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2 Corinthians 7

MS
Mary Stegink

Comments and Observations Recently my congregation lifted up their voices and sang “Blessed Be Your Name” (Matt and Beth Redman).  The song speaks of the ups and downs in life – we sang of the times when we’re “in the land that is plentiful, where your streams of abundance flow” we sang of the times…

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Hebrews 6:1-12

MS
Mary Stegink

Comments and Observations In the well-known and well-loved musical The Sound of Music, the governess Maria spends some time teaching her young charges how to sing.  She starts the lesson by saying (in song, of course) “Let’s start at the very beginning – a very good place to start.  When you read you begin with”….

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Revelation 4

MS
Mary Stegink

Comments and Observations Ah, Revelation – interesting language, vivid pictures, and challenging symbols – all pointing to that Day of Days when evil will be defeated once and for all, and God will gather up his own and take them home.  After explaining what he’s about and admonishing the seven churches, John turns his eyes…

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1 Timothy 3

EMS
Erin M. Stout

Comments and observations Timothy is a young pastor in Ephesus. Paul and Timothy had served the church together until Paul went on to Macedonia. Timothy was left behind in order to provide leadership in a rather challenging situation regarding self-appointed teachers who had slipped into the church. Their teachings were reminiscent of true Christian doctrine,…

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Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

Epiphany 1C

Scott-Hoezee
Scott Hoezee

Luke’s substantial narrative powers surely did not all suddenly fail him in this third chapter. So we need a different kind of explanation for the curious way by which Luke frames up this part of the story. Consider: First, we get the odd insertion in verses 19-20 about John’s imprisonment following his finally crossing the…

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Acts 8:14-17

Epiphany 1C

Stan Mast headshot
Stan Mast

This snippet of early Christian history might seem unimportant, slim fodder for a sermon, and a peculiar choice for this first Sunday after Epiphany, until we see its place in the larger story of the Christian church. Then we’ll recognize it as one of the great turning points in the Gospel mission. That, in turn,…

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