Words of Welcome

  Pharaoh's Daughter Finding Baby Moses Konstantin Flavitsky, 1855 Exodus 1:8-2:10 When God appeared to Abraham in Haran, God asked him to pick up and move to an undisclosed location. In exchange for heading out on this adventure, God promised to make his descendants a blessing to the nations ( Gen. 12:1-9 ). As the story goes in Genesis, Abraham and three generations of his descendants carried that promise forward. Due to famine and the providential placement of Jacob’s son Joseph in a position of power, Jacob’s family ended up in Egypt where Joseph was Prime Minister. Although Joseph ended up in Egypt because of some family dysfunction, his presence in Egypt brought blessings to his family and to the nations.  When we turn from Genesis to Exodus, Abraham’s descendants still reside in Egypt. In fact, it’s four hundred years later and the family has been fruitful and multiplied. Their fortunes were about to change because a Pharaoh came to the throne of Egypt who knew not Josep

  Matthew 14:22-33 According to the Gospel of Matthew Jesus went about Galilee proclaiming the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. He revealed this heavenly realm in parables like the parable of the sower and the parable of the mustard seed. He also revealed God’s realm through his miracles. Last week we heard the story of the feeding of the 5000. We may not know how Jesus fed so many people with such little food, but we can develop suitable theories. However, when it comes to walking on water, that’s a different story. You might call this an “impossible possibility” of the miracle stories, stories that require that we use our spiritual imaginations. Then this story, as Brian McLaren suggests, can “play a catalytic role in co-creating new possibilities for the world of tomorrow” [ We Make the Road by Walking, p. 97]. Today’s reading from Matthew 14 picks up the story right after Jesus fed the 5000. Matthew tells us that Jesus sent the disciples back across the lake and dismissed the

  Matthew 14:13-21 One thing is true about religious groups. Even if we don’t always eat the same foods, we all like to eat. Muslims may fast during Ramadan, but once the sun goes down, it’s time to eat. Since I’ve been to a number of Iftar dinners I can attest that once the sun goes down the food and the fellowship is plentiful. Jews celebrate Passover with meals and again the food is plentiful. While the food used in the Lord’s Supper might be minuscule, Christians have been known to host meals with plenty of food. When we read the gospels, it’s clear that Jesus enjoyed eating with people. In fact, some of his critics suggest that he was a glutton. They also criticized him for eating with the wrong kinds of people. When we gather at the Lord’s Table, we remember Jesus’ eating habits, including the people he shared meals with. Sometimes Jesus was the guest, but at other times he was the host. This morning we hear a story about the day Jesus hosted a rather large gathering, whom he