October 20, 2024 Jesus offers us a freedom that at first seems like a strange freedom: The freedom to serve others. We are inclined to think of freedom differently, as the ability to do what we want, when we want to, because we want to. Yet, precisely if we’ve swum in those moral waters, the “do what you want” waters, we realize that freedom is not…

October 13, 2024 “I am the rich Jesus is talking about???” When Jesus says, “It is easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God” many of us as Americans get uncomfortable… Are they for us? Are we the rich Jesus is addressing? Or do the rich refer to the “Scrooge McDuck”s of the world, the …

October 6, 2024 “I believe, help my unbelief!” cries the father who has brought his sick son to Jesus (Mark 9:24). Like all who have long prayed for a suffering family member, the man is brought to the brink. While he sees the strength, conviction and love of Jesus — before his very eyes — he acknowledges the forces against him are ancient, mighty …

September 29, 2024 “What we do in life echoes in eternity” – a stoic philosopher said it first (Marcus Aurelius) but most of us know it through the movie Gladiator. When one hears the Gospel today (Mark 9:38-50), one could argue that Jesus seems to say something similar, as he both promises blessing and warns of condemnation based on our actions. I…

September 22, 2024 Jesus today offers words we like want to soften: He calls his disciples to be last of all and servants of all (Mark 8:30-37). At first, this sounds impossible. The only person who ever was servant of all was Jesus. Yet, Jesus does show us a way forward. Right after calling the disciples to be servant of all, he embraces one child…

September 15, 2024 Peter has committed his life to follow Jesus. Peter is the shining student, confessing Jesus as the Messiah (Mark 8:27-38). Then, all of the sudden, Peter is being rebuked by Jesus. What gives? Most Christians do not succumb to blatant worship of idols; but we often lose ourselves, even when pursuing the faith, hope and love. A r…

September 8, 2024 As Jesus is healing a man’s blindness, the man says “I can see people, but they are like trees walking.” (Mark 8:14-26) This prompts Jesus to work more on the man’s eyes. It turns out that Jesus really has to work to heal the man! The story serves as a key to understanding Mark’s Gospel in that Jesus repeatedly has to work on the …

September 1, 2024 Once again, Jesus is criticized by religious leaders for his mealtime practices (portions of Mark 7). Turns out, he is always being criticized for WHO eats with him, WHAT he eats and HOW he eats. It would be easy for us to judge the religious leaders of his day, but turns out, in our world today we have lots of rules, judgement an…

August 25, 2024 A google search on “Sunday Morning” comes up with a lot of images — but almost none of them church (or the Bible)! As we live into this time – a great unchurching of the United States – we hear the question of Jesus to the disciples: “Do you also want to leave?” For many of us, though, we say no, we want to stay in the community of …

August 18, 2024 “Take heed therefore — making the most of your time” St Paul, letter to the Ephesians (Chapter 5:15-16) YOLO — You only live once. This is what is often said now when someone wants to encourage us to pursue adventure and indulge ourselves!! In short, play hard! This is especially true in our post COVID world, one that has realized h…

August 11, 2024 “Be gracious, as God graced you in Jesus Christ” Paul, to the Ephesians. What does grace look like in our lives? (Standing out in the rain listening to Taylor Swift concerts from the city park?) How do we extend grace to others? (Including neighborhood bullies?) A reflection on how God gives us our daily bread, the grace that forgiv…

July 7, 2024 The Presidential debates of this past June were met by many with frustration and anxiety; they felt like one more sign of the dysfunction and malaise hanging over our political world. Pastor Rob reflects on Mark 6 when Jesus sends out his disciples. The world they lived in was a world of brutal political and social realities. Yet Jesus…

June 30, 2024 Sickness is like an iceberg in that we often only see the tip of the situation. The Gospel writer Mark takes us on a deep dive into the emotional undercurrents of illness, exploring what is going on in the hearts of the families of two women who are healed by Jesus (Mark 5:21-43). These stories speak to the reality of our emotions, bu…

Sunday, June 23 "Do you not care that we are perishing?" The disciples cry out to Jesus, who is asleep during the storm. Inevitably, we will go through storms. We will encounter hard times and observe terrible situations in the world. We will wonder where God is in the midst of all of this. Is Jesus sleeping? During these times, we or those whom we…

June 16, 2024 Did you know that a butterfly flapping its wings can change the path, intensity and even existence of a massive storm, like a tornado or hurricane!? “The Butterfly Effect” is the term to describe how in a complex and interconnected system, the smallest change of one variable can lead to a big change in the outcome. As Christians, we’v…

June 9, 2024 Things go wrong for Jesus after his “graduation” – he leaves town, makes friends with the wrong people, gets in trouble with the law and finds religion. When he gets home, its a bit too much for his family who confront him about this. At this point, things get even worse, with him renouncing them (Mark 3:20-35) The end? Because our God…

Holy Trinity 2024 (Also Confirmation!) Decisions, decisions, decisions!! Life is full of decisions; for young people, each decision comes with so many options. Their life feels very much like a “Choose you own adventure” story: What to study, whom to befriend, whom to love, where to live, what teams to try out for… This all sounds exciting, except …

Pentecost 2024 (May 19) Life speed is fast and only gets faster. As life gets faster, making sense of life becomes harder and harder to do. A reflection on where we go to find still waters. (Hint: Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the church!) Also, an admission of what to do when, no matter what, it doesn’t fully make sense!…

Ascension 2024 (May 12) Pastor Rob reminds us of the crafty gifts we gave to our mothers on Mother’s Day (and other such days) using a poem called “Lanyard.” While such gifts are sentimental and cute, they really don’t adequately repay the mother for all that she has done. The disproportional love of parent to a young child is a great illustration …

Easter V (April 28, 2024) “He removes every branch in me that does not bear fruit.” These words often sound threatening and cause us to ask: “Am I one of the branches that will be pruned or not?” Pastor Rob invites us to see this a bit differently. Rather than be concerned with “Who is in and who is out?” instead we are to ask ourselves “Which me i…

Easter IV 2024 (April 14) Good Shepherd Sunday The image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd powerfully communicates the fundamental truth “God loves you.” When push comes to shove, this is the fundamental truth we live by and we want to pass on to the next generation of faith. However, there is another vital truth – even embedded in Psalm 23 – that we w…

Easter III (April 14, 2023) This past week our nation was fascinated and delighted by the eclipse. It was a reminder of the glory of the heavens, the place where the beauty and complexity of the creation bears witness to the creator. This past week our nation was heartbroken and afraid of violence and further escalation around the world, particular…

Easter Sunday 2024 (March 31) We live in an age of pessimism, in which it is easy to be cynical about present and gloomy about the future. The women who go to the tomb of Jesus had every reason to be pessimistic, cynical and gloomy (Mark 16). Yet they do not succumb to this attitude, but choose instead to do an act of love, courage and hope. From w…

Palm Sunday 2024 (March 24) Throughout his ministry, Jesus transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary: donkeys, jugs of water and scraps of food. Again and again, through faith, the ordinary becomes an extraordinary vessel of God’s love. He further sends out his disciples to unbind things, animals and people so that which is unbound, the ordina…

Lent 5 (March 17, 2024) Jesus was the most empathetic human who has ever lived. But for Jesus, like for all humans, empathy exposes him to the pain and suffering of others. In the cross, this empathy is taken to another level, a wholly divine level, whereby Jesus fully empathizes and fully takes on our suffering, shame and sin. This brings him to c…