Worship

A study in contrasts

Today’s readings are a wonderful example of how confusing contradictory scripture can be. Song of Solomon 2: 8-13 We are about to hear a passage that has nothing to do with the law or sacred history. The people who collected the books of scripture into what we have as the Bible argued for centuries about […]

Continue Reading

Sermon – I’m not perfect and that’s okay with God.

Many Bible scholars call the reading from 2 Samuel assigned for today’s worship as ‘sanitized’. Skipping verses 6-8 significant. These verses speak about David’s brutal capture of Jerusalem to make it his capital once he became king of Israel and Judah. Most of us carry our Sunday School picture of David in our heads: a […]

Continue Reading

Sermon

Have you ever been so sick that you have felt desperate? Have you ever been so frustrated with the situation that you will do anything to force a change? The flip side of these questions is to ask ourselves what it means to be well, to feel whole, and to trust. What does it take […]

Continue Reading

Seedy Beginnings

Scripture Reading – Mark 4: 26-34 In the reading from Mark we find that Jesus addresses his disciples and the crowds in parables. In our reading this morning Jesus uses parables to explain about the ‘kingdom of God’. 26Then Jesus said, “God’s kingdom is like seed thrown on a field by a man 27who then goes […]

Continue Reading

Scripture & Sermon

I have been very blessed to be here at Windsor Park United. One of the things I like best is that Sharon challenges me to think in new ways. Today is one of those days, so we will be doing something different, at least for me. Alex will do the reading and the meditation will […]

Continue Reading

Sometimes the best answers leave us more confused than before.

Trinity Sunday Communion We are about to hear one of the most familiar and best loved stories in the Bible about the purpose of Jesus in the world. These verses are complicated and present a host of unresolved issues. The ambiguity that fills these verses feeds the reminder to all believers in every age that […]

Continue Reading

So what is the Holy Spirit… and should I care?

This is Pentecost Sunday when we celebrate the birth of the Christian Church.  Today our scriptures tell the story of the Holy Spirit.  For those closest to Jesus, this gift had huge implications.  They needed assurance that Jesus wasn’t abandoning them.  They wondered how they could move forward in life without him. Too often in […]

Continue Reading

Church versus the world: The ongoing struggle

Ephesians 1: 15-23 The letter of Paul to the Ephesians is a letter that was written to a group of churches that were not founded by Paul himself.  This letter was written while Paul was under arrest and therefore he was not able to visit them himself.  This letter calls Christians back to the basis […]

Continue Reading