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Showing posts from October, 2012

He is...We Are To Be: The Gate - John 10:1-10

Three friends die in a car crash, and they find themselves at the gates of heaven. Before entering, they are each asked a question by St. Peter himself, “When you are in your casket and friends and family are mourning, when they look down, what would you like to hear them say about you?” The first guy says, “I would like to hear them say that I was a great doctor and a great family man.” The second guy says, “I would like to hear that I was a wonderful husband and schoolteacher.” The last guy replies, “I would like to hear them say…LOOK!!! HE’S MOVING!!!” Today, after last week’s wonderful service by the laity, we return to our series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus. We need to remember just how controversial these statements were to those who heard Jesus speak them.  To understand this, we have reflected on the fact that when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush and sent Moses to bring the Hebrew people out of slavery in Egypt, Moses asked, “When the people ...

He Is...We Are To Be: The Light of the World - John 8:12-20

Last week we began our series on examining the “I Am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John.  We talked about how controversial these statements would have been for the Hebrew people that would have heard them coming from Jesus.  We went back to Exodus 3 and heard the conversation between Moses and God as God was preparing Moses to go back into Egypt and bring the Hebrew people out of slavery: Moses questioned God, “If I go back to Egypt and tell the Israelites that the God of their ancestors had sent him, they are going to want to know who this God is and I don’t even know your name.  What am I supposed to tell them?”  God replied to Moses, “‘I Am Who I Am.’” God continued on, “‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, I Am has sent me to you…The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever and this is my title for all generations.’” [i] Those listening to Jesus and...

I Am…You Are To Be: The Bread of Life--John 6:26-35

It may not be as obvious now as it was a couple of years ago, but I love bread.  I love most all breads, with the exception of any that have onion or oats (because of allergies), and I am not a real big fan of banana-nut bread.  For years my favorite bread was the yeast roll at Golden Corral.  In fact, there were many times were I would eat an extra yeast roll or two instead of visiting the dessert bar (and that was on top of any that I ate during rest of the meal).  This summer, though, I found a new favorite while we were on vacation.  It is Norlander bread.  It is good warm or room temperature with butter spread on it.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for my waist-line, you cannot readily walk into a store around here and purchase Norlander bread. When it comes to folks watching their waist-line, bread tends to be a “no-no.”  When I was in seminary I went through a period of trying to lose weight.  I used a modified version of th...

Who's Your Audience - Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Baseball. It is that time of year, as Major League Baseball enters its postseason playoffs next weekend, preparing for the World Series.  I am going to have to admit.  I am not a baseball fan.  In fact, the only time I watch baseball is if I have a child playing baseball or I am with a group that is going to a baseball game…and that is for the purpose of socializing with those folks…not watching the game.  When I was a kid I played baseball for three years.  I even remember that the team I played for was called the Yankees (back then our teams were named after professional teams, not a team sponsor).  I remember playing, not because I loved baseball, but because my friends played baseball and my dad wanted me to play baseball…and we all know that young boys do all they can to impress and please their fathers, if at all possible.  I wish I could say I was a star athlete, but that has never been a claim of mine.  If I made it to first base, ...