March 29, 2020Mark 13:1-8; 24-37 Standing on the Mount of Olives and looking to the west, it can be humbling to think about the view that must have been present during Jesus’ day … the massive temple that stood on the hill on the opposite side of the valley. The sight of the building … the centre of religious life in that…

Mark 12: 1-17March 15, 2020 Today’s reading from Mark is a violent story and one that challenges listeners to see themselves within the episode in the vineyard. Just before today’s passage, the Pharisees and other religious leaders find themselves in a debate with Jesus. He has cleansed the Temple, he has cursed the fig tree because it fails to bear fruit and…

Mark 12: 28-44March 22, 2020 Jesus’ time in Jerusalem is filled with conflict with the religious authorities. He has just told the parable of the wicked tenants and the religious leaders … the Pharisees, the Scribes and the elders … have realized that they are being cast in the role of the wicked tenants. Now, one of the Scribes … one of…

Mark 10: 32-52March 8, 202 I remember a classroom discussion I had with one of my professors at the seminary. I won’t say who, but he’s well-known to this congregation. The handful of Lutheran students were standing around the altar in the seminary chapel. We were discussing communion and how our branch of the Lutheranism welcomes all to the table … what…

Mark 10: 17-31March 1, 2020 Whenever I hear Jesus’ line about the camel and the eye of a needle, I can’t help but remember a story a German pastor once told me about Kaiser Wilhelm and his trip to Jerusalem. In 1898, the Kaiser was on a tour of the Ottoman Empire and wanted to visit Jerusalem. He followed the Jaffa Road…

Mark 8:27-9:8February 23, 2020 When I lecture on the Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication, the first half of the first class is always spent explaining just how communication works. There are two parties involved … the sender and the receiver … and I would draw a straight line between the two words. Most of the university students would just nod … few ……

Mark 7: 1-23 February 16, 2020    Just before today’s passage from Mark, Jesus and the disciples fed the 5,000, Jesus walked on water and the disciples have healed the sick in towns and villages and marketplaces across the region.     Now, some Pharisees and scribes arrive from Jerusalem to see if they can catch Jesus in a mistake and then discredit…

Mark 6: 1-29February 9, 2020 Today’s passage begins with Jesus back in Nazareth.He is teaching in the synagogue. It’s such a key moment in Jesus’s ministry that the story appears in three of the gospels.In all three versions of the story, the crowd is astounded … they are amazed … at first.And then … things go sideways.People begin to question … why…

Mark 5: 21-43 February 2, 2020    I had to take the van into the dealership on Friday.   It was time for its semi-annual maintenance É at least that was the message on the dashboard kept telling me.   It was time (actually, it was 1,000 km past the time) for me to get the oil changed and the filters checked.…

Mark 5: 1-20 January 26, 2020    Donna gave me a turntable for Christmas.    It’s not like one of those turntables that I had years ago. This one can plug into my laptop or can play music off a USB stick.    Since Christmas, whenever I’m working at the dining room table, I usually have a record on … ones that I haven’t played…