Words of Welcome

Psalm 146 We’ve come to the third stop on our summer journey through the Psalms. So far the Psalmist has reminded us that God is our creator and our judge. In Psalm 146, the Psalmist declares that Yahweh is the ruler of all creation. Indeed, the Psalmist invites us to “sing praises to [our] God for as long as we live,” because God will reign forever.  We come to this place to give praise and thanksgiving to the one who “made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them.” It is God, who “executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.” 

Matthew 2:1-12 One of the first songs most of us learned as children was this old English lullaby: Twinkle, twinkle, little star, How I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high,   Like a diamond in the sky. It’s not a Christmas carol or even an Epiphany hymn, but the third stanza seems to fit today’s service:   Then the traveller in the dark, Thanks you for your tiny spark, He could not see which way to go,   If you did not twinkle so. Light pollution makes it difficult to see the stars in the night, but if you get away from civilization, maybe go up into the mountains, you might get a sense of how the stars looked to the ancient world.  No wonder ancient travelers looked to the stars for guidance.  If you knew the movement of the stars, you’d know where you were and where you were going.  They were the original GPS, and they weren’t nearly as annoying!    According to Matthew, Magi – Zoroastrian priest...

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 ...

Mark 6:14-29 It’s your birthday and you’re really hoping to get a special present.  It could be a new bike, a red wagon, a doll, a new Ford Fiesta.  You’ve left lots of hints, and you’re hoping that you’ll get your heart’s desire.  So, did you get what you wanted?   Or did you get something else?  And if you got what you wanted, is it what you hoped for?  Herod Antipas was the king in Galilee, which is where Jesus hailed from.  When his birthday approached, he decided to throw himself a party.  You can do that if you’re the king.  As Mel Brooks put it in History of the World, Part 1 :  “It’s good to be the king!”  So, Herod sent out to the invitations to all the movers and shakers from the neighborhood and invited them to a big banquet.  His wife, Herodias, who was also married to his brother, offered up her daughter whom tradition names Salome – as the entertainment.   You may know Salome’s name, be...

Matthew 25:1-13 It’s important that you not be late to a wedding, especially if it’s your own. If you’re a bridesmaid, and you’re late, you might as well go home! Over the years I’ve been to, been in, and presided over many weddings, so I have a few tales to tell. On one occasion I was sitting in the office with the groom and best man, waiting for the bridal party to arrive. You see this bridal party had decided to get ready at home and come in the limo dressed to go! Well, after some delay word came that one of the bride’s maids had gotten sick, and the limo had returned to the house. We finally got the wedding started, about an hour late. I’ve had to chase down fathers’ of the bride, groomsmen, and even brides maids. It’s not pretty when things go wrong! Fortunately, Bryan and Felicia’s wedding came off without a hitch – in spite of the rain! 1. The Kingdom of God is: Jesus talked a lot about the kingdom of God, or as Matthew puts it, the Kingdom of Heaven. ...

John 3:1-17 "The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind," so sang Bob Dylan. That may very well be true, but the question is: Which way is the wind blowing? What we know for sure about the wind is that it’s unpredictable and uncontrollable. People living here in Lompoc know something about the wind – it seems to come up every afternoon, keeping things cool and clear. On a hot afternoon, a nice cool breeze can bring relief, but sometimes the wind comes with devastating power. Consider those Santa Ana winds that can whip up a fire, knock down trees, and turn over semis. And in other parts of the country, it could be a tornado or a hurricane that brings devastation in its wake. The winds can come with great power, and while we can try to tap into its power, we can’t control it or predict where it will go. And this is also the case with the Sprit of God. Unless you thrive on stressful situations, you probably prefer calm normalcy to chaos. We like five year plans and complete a...