April 26, 2020Acts 3:1-10 View service I had some banking to do a couple of weeks ago. So, keeping social-distancing in mind … and wanting to minimize the risk of coming into contact with someone dealing with COVID-19 … I picked a time when I thought there would be less traffic and fewer people on the sidewalks. It also meant that I…

Acts 1: 1-14 April 19, 2020 Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! In today’s reading from Acts, Jesus actually does rise. Today, we hear of his ascension … the true end of his earthly visit. Luke’s gospel ends with Jesus’ ascension. Now, in the Book of Acts, Luke adds some details … some texture … to the scene. Today, the…

Mark 16: 1-8April 12, 2020 One of the first things that my university students learn in Interpersonal Communications is a concept called the “Johari Window.” This window is a self-awareness tool that helps students better understand themselves and better understand their relationship with others.  Imagine a window with four panes of glass.  Each pane represents an aspect of your knowledge about a…

April 10, 2020Mark 15: 16-39 We are in a scary and uncertain time … both as individuals and as a faith community. The COVID-19 crisis has pushed each of us behind closed doors … into our personal sanctuaries … and away from community … in a physical sense.  Our connections are held together by telephone cable and Wi-Fi. Behind those closed doors, we…

April 5, 2020 Palm Sunday Click to watch on-line service Mark 11:1-0; 14:3-11 Today’s gospel passage offers two instances when Jesus’ nature … his identity … are recognized and celebrated. And it offers two different outcomes. We start with Jesus entrance into Jerusalem and the last week of his earthly life. His appearance in the city precedes the Passover festival and comes…

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…