Words of Welcome

Vincent Van Gogh, "Sheaves of Wheat" Psalm 126 I took the sermon title from an old gospel song written by the nineteenth-century Disciples’ “singing evangelist” Knowles Shaw . While the song isn’t in our hymnals, it pops up regularly in popular culture. You might have heard versions of it in episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, Batman, and especially the Simpsons. It’s even been featured in films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . For some reason it appeals to the popular mind, even if Mainline Protestants rarely sing it. That goes for Disciples, because even though Shaw was a Disciple, the last Disciple hymnal that includes it was published in 1953! This song is based on the sixth verse of Psalm 126 , though the version of the Psalm we shared this morning lacks the words “bringing in the sheaves.” But, if you go to the King James Version you’ll find the words that inspired Knowles Shaw to write this song.  “He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious see...

Mark 4:26-34 We just finished studying the Gospel of Mark in the Wednesday afternoon Bible Study. Our group discovered that Mark is full of surprises. His gospel proclaims the “good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” ( Mk. 1:1 ), but for some reason Jesus tries to keep this news a secret.  Even though the disciples spend their days and nights with Jesus, only the demons seem to recognize him for who he is. When you read Mark, it’s difficult to set aside stories from Matthew, Luke, and John. We want to read into Mark’s story what we know from the other gospels, but if we do this, we won’t hear Mark’s version of the story. There is one word that stands out. That word is “immediately.” Mark’s story moves quickly. He rarely stops to let Jesus catch his breath. He starts with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan at the hands of John the Baptizer. Mark doesn’t have an infancy narrative. His family appears only once and they come to take home, because they thought he had...