Words of Welcome

John 18:33-37 The election season is over, so isn’t it time to get on with life. After all there’s work to be done.  Remember there’s that fiscal cliff to resolve, immigration reform to tackle, and then there’s the ongoing implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  Besides all of this there are roads and bridges that need to be built or repaired.  The laundry list is long and getting longer.  And that’s just the stuff on our government’s plate.  As for us, the Christmas shopping season is racing into top gear!   Although we all seem to enjoy complaining about politics and politicians, isn’t it human nature to complain about the people in power.  At least in this country, if you don’t like ‘em, you can toss ‘em out.  Though with gerrymandering that’s sort of difficult!  But, what if we lived instead under the rule of divinely sanctioned hereditary monarchs.  Wouldn’t that be better?  Although there are those who raise the cry Vox populi, vox Dei.  That’s Latin for

Hebrews 10:19-25 Some families have a little Thanksgiving ritual when they get together.  Everyone goes around the table and shares something for which they’re thankful. Now, this can be a rather uncomfortable ritual for some, since they’re not really sure how to answer the question.  Unfortunately, you usually can’t pass, so you have to make something up.  Since it looks like the Lions won’t be going to the Super Bowl this year, you might say –  “I’m thankful that the Lions will get a good draft pick.”  That would be a safer answer than saying that I’m thankful that a certain team that can’t be named won the World Series.  If we were to extend this ritual to this morning’s worship service, and went around the room, asking each of us to stand up and give an answer to the question of what we’re thank for, what would you say?  Don’t worry, we don’t have time to go around the room, so you’re safe.  But, what would you say?    This year’s stewardship theme –  “Abundant Jo

Mark 12:38-44 I know that you’re all glad that the election season is over.  Whether your candidates won or lost, if you’re like me, you’re enjoying watching TV a whole lot more than a week ago.  None of those annoying political ads are blaring at you. Your email inbox has gotten a bit lighter as well. But, here’s a bit of warning – once you give to a candidate or a party, you’re marked for life, and you can expect to get many emails asking for money.  All of this constant fund-raising can be a bit annoying, but it’s part of the game.  And, while, politicians will tell you that they welcome contributions of every size, they would rather you give the maximum amount than the minimum.  Not only that, but if you have a Super-PAC, there is no maximum, so give as much and as often as you can.  Since we were inundated with TV ads from Super-PACS, you know that a lot of really big givers gave a lot of money to these efforts to influence our votes.   So, to many people the question of

Ruth 1:1-18 I thought about singing Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again,” but thought better of it.  But I could have used that song title as the title for this sermon.  It is, after all, a sermon about spiritual journeys in the company of others. Our text this morning reminds us that migration is a common theme in the biblical story.  Beginning with Adam and Eve’s departure from Eden and on through Abraham and Sarah’s journey from Ur to Canaan, Jacob’s various journeys, including a final one that took him and his sons to Egypt, and then the return of Jacob’s descendants to the Promised Land with Moses.  Jesus himself was an itinerant preacher, who traveled in the company of his disciples, and of course, Paul is known for his missionary journeys.  These journeys, like most journeys, have some purpose to them. It might be famine or it might be war.  It could be that God has sent a person on a journey to bring a message of good news. People came to the United St