Words of Welcome

  Romans 9:1-5 When you have something important to share that you think is life-changing, you hope people will respond positively. It doesn’t matter if you’re the president, governor, mayor, or, in my case, a preacher. It’s frustrating when people don’t respond the way you hope. So, I can feel Paul’s frustration, which he shares with his readers in the opening verses of Romans 9.   Paul closed the previous chapter with a heartfelt declaration, telling the Roman church that he was “convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” ( Rom. 8:38-39 ). Now, as we turn the page to chapter 9, we find Paul talking about the grief he felt for his fellow Jews who rejected his message about Jesus. In chapters nine through eleven, Paul addresses the failure of the Jewish people to receiv...

  Isaiah 55:10-13; Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Every spring I sow grass seed to fix the barren spots in the lawn. Sometimes the seed does its job and grass appears where it’s supposed to appear; but not always. Some of that seed falls on ground that doesn’t want to produce any new grass, no matter what I do to the soil. Then there’s the grass that makes a home in unintended spots, like in the middle of my flower garden. I don’t know if it’s the seeds or the soil, but either one seems to have a mind of its own. In our Gospel reading this morning from Matthew 13, we encounter Jesus sitting in a boat anchored on the Sea of Galilee because a large crowd gathered to hear him teach. This chapter offers us several well-known parables, some of which Pastor Dan is going to explore, along with Matthew’s explanation of why Jesus used parables in his teaching about the kingdom of God. While we often think Jesus used parables to illustrate his sermons because the people could better understand ...

  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 ),...