Words of Welcome

Luke 11:1-4; 1 Chronicles 29:10-13 It’s Easter, which is a day of joyous celebration. We’ve come to share in the Easter story with song and with word. We’ve come to offer to God words of praise, declaring our allegiance to the one who is risen from the dead. We’ve come in the hope of the resurrection, seeking to find strength and peace in the presence of God. It is in this context that we hear the call of God: Lift up your hearts, lift up your eyes, and behold what great things God is doing in your midst! On this Easter morning, as we join in celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, we also bring to a close a series of sermons that focus on the Lord’s Prayer. You won’t find the closing statement of this prayer – “For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever” – in either of the two gospel accounts of the Lord’s Prayer, at least not in our modern translations. As you may know, this is because this phrase isn’t found in out the oldest of our manuscripts. But, this closing ...

Revelation 5:11-14 What are your priorities in life? Tragedies like the Virginia Tech shootings can be wake-up calls. For a moment we stop and think about what’s important in life. Tragically such events happen every day somewhere in the world, but usually we don’t take much notice of them. Indeed that same day nearly 200 Iraqis died in four separate bombings. Now, my sermon today isn’t about what happened in Blacksburg or in Baghdad, at least not directly. But perhaps there are connections to be found. This morning’s text comes from Revelation and ultimately it’s a word concerning allegiance. For early Christians, especially those living at the end of the first century, long before the church received favored status from Constantine, being a Christian was tricky, even dangerous. The emperors didn’t care what you believed as long as you would swear allegiance to them as well. Just call me "Lord" they said, and everything will be okay. THE CHALLENGE OF THE POWERS Revelation is...