Welcoming ALL of God’s children..

Pentecost +19 – Welcome ALL of God’s Children The texts for this week are – well – difficult. This week is another instance where the Gospel is not easy to hear but in the end, frees us from things that keep us from living freely in community.  The legal trap set …

Servants in Jesus’ Name

Pentecost +18 – Working in Jesus’ Name In Mark 9:38-50 the disciples—at least John—are upset because they saw somebody, not a disciple, “casting out demons” in Jesus’ name. Here John sounds strikingly similar to the Pharisees, who became upset when someone out of their control, Jesus, healed a person on the sabbath …

Blessed are they that die in the Lord

Dear friends and family of SOTH, In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection, Gary H. Wolfe died to this life on September 11, 2015.  We give thanks for his life and witness here on earth and celebrate his homegoing to God.  We also grieve his loss with his wife, …

Pentecost +15 – Unexpected & Changed

This week our lessons share two stories of unexpected encounters with Jesus.  The first challenges Jesus’ idea of inclusion.  The second story changes a life that is now able to hear and proclaim the Good News.  In Mark’s Gospel, there is a slow revelation happening right now – that Jesus …

BAIYB…We can live in God’s wisdom

What does it mean to make the most of time? Does it mean that we should cram as much as we can into a day, hour, minute—get more done than some think is more than humanly possible and then add more to the list just for kicks? Or does it …

We Live as Imitators of Christ

Baggage – we’ve all got it.  When I travel with youth, I’m fond of saying, you pack it you carry it.  There’s a lot of it in our lives.  And it gets heavy and hard to bear. There’s physical baggage, emotional baggage, spiritual baggage.  It’s tiring to just think about …

We are One in Christ

John Lennon’s iconic song “Imagine” begs of the listener to imagine a world as one.  St. Paul, from jail, declares to the Ephesians that in Christ we are one – one body, one Spirit, one hope, for the building up of the body of Christ.  Not something to imagine.  Something …

Weekly Announcements for July 22, 2015

We Welcome. Don’t Forget – Midweek Summer Worship! As part of our summer experiment, Wednesday nights in July and August will feature a light meal and worship!  The meal is served at 6:30 PM. We ask a suggested donation of $2 per person. We will then worship around the tables …