Words of Welcome

  The Dance of the Golden Calf Exodus 32:1-14 When many of us were children, long road trips could be challenging. We can get impatient. From the back seat we can be heard asking our parents: “Are we there yet?” Such was the perspective of the people of Israel as they traveled across Sinai toward the Promised Land. They could be heard on many an occasion whining about their situation. Then, when Moses seemed to disappear after going up the mountain to visit with God, they got worried and decided to take things into their own hands. If Moses, who spoke for God, wasn’t around to lead them, maybe they needed new leaders and new gods.  Now, when God made a covenant with Israel, God gave the people a set of rules and regulations that defined God’s covenant expectations. We call these rules the Ten Commandments. This set of commandments begins with this proclamation:  I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; you shall...

  Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7 While I once lived in a small town when I was a child, I’ve lived most of my adult life in cities. I started life in Los Angeles and lived briefly in San Francisco, but my first true memories are connected to my childhood in the small town of Mount Shasta. Although I tasted small-town life before I ever experienced city life, I know what it means to be a city boy, if you count the suburbs as the city! So, what responsibility do we have as suburbanites for the welfare of the city? That’s our question for today! We’ve heard a word from the prophet Jeremiah, who wrote a letter to Jewish exiles living in Babylon. These exiles included the elders, priests, prophets, and everyone else whom Nebuchadnezzar sent to Babylon in the first wave of exiles who accompanied King Jeconiah and his mother. This was before the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple a decade later. At that point, the exiles still hoped they could return to their homes in Jerusalem. Nevertheless...