Words of Welcome

  Romans 5:1-11 Six years ago, the world was shutting down because COVID was on the march. That included our church services. Everyone was uncertain about what the future held. Would this last a few days or weeks? No one knew at that moment. Just a few weeks earlier, I had shared with the folks at Central Woodward my plan to retire at the end of June 2021. Since I was giving them a nearly eighteen-month head start, I thought we had lots of time to prepare the church for the future. Suffice it to say, things didn’t work out the way I planned.  As the saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. While we might not be facing a global pandemic, the recently launched war with Iran is making people just as anxious, uncertain, and fearful as we were six years ago. That’s because we don’t know what the future holds. We know that gas prices are going up dramatically, and the stock market is going down. We don’t know how long the war will last and what form it w...

  2 Peter 1:16-21 The season of Epiphany begins with the magi following a star to the home of the Holy family. It ends with Jesus climbing a mountain with three of his disciples, who witness the revealing of Jesus’ glory and mission. From beginning to end, the season of Epiphany invites us to embrace the light that shines in the darkness, revealing God’s love for the world.  As we gather here on Transfiguration Sunday, we get to once again climb the mountain with Jesus and his three disciples. As we approach the mountaintop, we can ponder the age-old question: Who is Jesus? In the Gospel of Matthew, Peter answers that question by proclaiming that Jesus is the messiah, the Son of the living God ( Matt. 16:16 ). While Peter got the right answer, it’s clear from Matthew’s account that he wasn’t sure what that meant. He needed more information, such as the resurrection of Jesus. Soon after Peter made that confession, he witnessed the Transfiguration of Jesus ( Matt. 17:1-13 ),...

  Micah 6:1-8 Back during my teen years, a bumper sticker appeared with a request: “Please be patient with me, God is not finished with me.” There’s truth in that request, because God isn’t finished with us. But, hopefully, we’re moving toward spiritual maturity, which, according to the Ephesians letter, means reaching “the measure of the full stature of Christ” ( Eph. 4:13 ). This is a lifelong process. Unfortunately, I think this meme often served as an excuse for bad behavior, especially when that statement was placed on the back bumper of a car that cuts you off.    While I’m thankful that we’re justified by God’s grace, if we read scripture, we discover that God has high expectations of us. This is the message we hear from God through the words of the eighth-century prophet Micah, who lived outside Jerusalem. This prophet was deeply troubled by what he observed taking place around him, as the rich exploited the poor. Throughout this book, the prophet envisions Go...

  Sunrise at Arches National Park Isaiah 49:1-7 After Elwood Blues picked up his brother Jake from the Joliet Prison, they set out on a “Mission from God.” This divinely authorized mission involved raising money to prevent the bank foreclosure on the Catholic orphanage where they grew up. Although their mission from God was a race against time, nothing, not even the Illinois State Police, which was authorized to use “all unnecessary violence to apprehend the Blues Brothers,” was going to stop them from saving their childhood home.  In our reading from Isaiah 49, a prophet commonly known as Second Isaiah, may face different kinds of obstacles than the Blues Brothers, but he also found himself on a mission from God. The prophet speaks to Jewish exiles living in Babylon, offering them hope, encouragement, and their own mission from God. In an earlier chapter, God tells the people: “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit up...

  Edwards Hickes, Peacable Kingdom Romans 15:4-13 This morning, we lit the Candle of Peace, which reminds us that this is not only the Second Sunday of Advent, it is Peace Sunday. Peace is something we all hope for, but which always seems beyond our grasp. World War I was supposed to be the war that ended all wars. Twenty years later, an even bigger war took place. This year, Peace Sunday falls on December 7th, the day Franklin Roosevelt declared would live in infamy. Having visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor on two occasions, I felt the presence of those lives lost that day. But that war didn’t bring an end to human wars. Many more were to come. There were wars in Korea and then Vietnam. I remember in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, there was talk of a peace dividend for the American defense budget. But that talk didn’t last long because war came to the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq. For nearly four years, we’ve watched the Russians devastate Ukraine, h...

  Luke 21:5-19   It’s almost Thanksgiving. The weather is changing, the leaves have dropped, and pumpkin spice is everywhere, letting us know that winter is on the horizon. We also seem to be living in a time of crisis. The United States government suffered its longest shutdown in the history of our country, which only ended late Wednesday evening. People who were working without pay, or trying to figure out how to put food on the table with the suspension of SNAP benefits, are thankful that the government has reopened. However, damage has been done. We can’t forget the war in Ukraine that continues unabated, while the ceasefire in Gaza remains tenuous, and trouble is again brewing in the West Bank. Then there are the political and cultural divisions here at home that continue to get worse, which can make for challenging times at many a family Thanksgiving table. Times like this can lead people to wonder if the end of the world might be at hand.  As we ponder the chal...

    Woman of the Apocalypse (Hortus deliciarum) Revelation 12:7-17 It’s Perry Gresham Weekend once again. Yesterday, we heard a word from Richard Beck that reminded us that “ We Wrestle Not Against Flesh and Blood, ” but rather against the powers and principalities of this present darkness. This morning, I return to this pulpit for the first time since I retired more than four years ago. Zach commissioned me to continue the conversation that Richard started yesterday. With that in mind, I chose the reading from Revelation 12.  We don’t often hear from John of Patmos in our mainline churches, especially if the preacher draws sermon texts from the lectionary, which has been my practice over the years. Nevertheless, I believe that John has an important word to share with us this morning.  Here is John’s word:  And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and th...