Words of Welcome

  Luke 21:25-36 It’s Thanksgiving Weekend and the First Sunday of Advent. As you can see, the sanctuary is ready for our celebration of Advent and Christmas. The beautiful new blue cloth on the table says it well: “O Come Emmanuel.” With this invitation to Emmanuel, we can ready ourselves to welcome the one who brings God’s presence into our midst. We opened worship singing “Come, thou long-expected Jesus, born to set thy people free.” This prayer has two meanings. First of all, it speaks to the messianic hopes and dreams that helped define Jesus’ earthly ministry. But it also speaks to our future hopes and dreams, as we pray that God would free us from our fears and sins so we might find our rest, as Augustine suggested in God’s presence.  The word we hear from the Gospel of Luke this morning has an apocalyptic ring to it. It’s as if Robot, from Lost in Space, is saying to us: “Danger, Will Robinson, Danger!” Yes, keep your eyes and ears on the alert for signs that the day of th

2 Samuel 23:1-7 Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea, knew that the  Roman emperor didn’t appreciate it when people challenged his authority. So, when Pilate asked Jesus “Are you the King of the Jews?” he wanted to know if Jesus was going to cause him problems with the emperor. Jesus answered this question by telling Pilate that yes he was a king but his kingdom wasn’t of this world ( John 18:33-37 ). Since Pilate didn’t know what to make of this answer he decided that executing Jesus was the wisest course of action.   Pilate didn’t quite understand the meaning of Jesus’ reply but he is in good company. Theologians have been trying to make sense of that statement to this day. If Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, then what does that mean for us?  We know from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, that Jesus’ primary message had to do with the kingdom of God. This is especially true of his parables. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus even tells a group of religious leaders

  Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25 Why do we gather together each Sunday morning? Is it because we all agree about our theology, politics, or music styles? Probably not. Sometimes being together isn’t easy, and it never has been. Just read Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and the Galatians and you’ll discover that the church has always struggled to fully embody Jesus’ vision for the church. So, if sameness isn’t the reason we gather, what is the glue that holds us together? According to Hebrews 10, that glue is our common confession that Jesus is the high priest who offered himself once for all as the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. The Book of Hebrews speaks to a community trying to navigate a hostile cultural context. Discouragement led some folks in the congregation to wonder if being church, was worth the time and energy put into it? The author of Hebrews responds to these concerns by telling the readers to hold fast to their confession of faith in Jesus and not neglect to gather toge

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17 The Book of Ruth is rooted within the larger biblical story that recounts God’s faithfulness to the covenant of blessing first made with Abraham and Sarah and then reaffirmed with Moses, David, and Jesus. Even when the people of God break this covenant, God remains faithful to it. That’s because God’s steadfast love endures forever.  The story told in the Book of Ruth takes place during the period of the Judges. While Israel has made a home in the Promised Land, it’s nothing more than a loose confederation of tribes. These tribes face hostile neighbors like the Philistines, a challenging landscape, and a tendency to stray from the ways of God. The larger story of this period is told in the Book of Judges , where you will find a constant refrain: “the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” Eventually, the people decided they needed a king, and so in the end God provided Israel with the monarchy of David and his descendants. What we read here provide