Epiphany Ucc

Mark 9:2-8

Mark 7:1-15 and Mark 7:1-15

Mark 5:21-34 Mark 5:35-43  

Jeremiah 33:14-18

2 Kings 22:1-20

Hosea 11:1-9

  The topic of praising God is not something we folks in the mainline Christian community do a lot of talking about, or at least in the places that I’ve served and been a part of over the years. Even when I was a teenager and ensconced within a Southern Baptist setting, I don’t remember a lot of conversations about what it means to praise God and why we humans do it or should do it. Maybe it’s nothing you’ve ever thought about twice, because we often are given the words with which to praise God, in hymns, songs, Scripture readings, like the one you heard a few minutes ago from Psalm 150. Honestly, I had never really thought twice about our praise of God until something early on in my ministry, in which I was told how to praise God in a particular kind of worship service. As you know, I once worked in a large congregation that had multiple and different kinds of worship services during the week. As some point, the Senior Pastor asked/told me that I would be leading up the Wednesday evening service, which at t

Ruth 1:1-17 During the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land. A man with his wife and two sons went from Bethlehem of Judah to dwell in the territory of Moab. The name of that man was Elimelech, the name of his wife was Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Chilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem in Judah. They entered the territory of Moab and settled there.  But Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died. Then only she was left, along with her two sons. They took wives for themselves, Moabite women; the name of the first was Orpah and the name of the second was Ruth. And they lived there for about ten years.  But both of the sons, Mahlon and Chilion, also died. Only the woman was left, without her two children and without her husband.  Then she arose along with her daughters-in-law to return from the field of Moab, because while in the territory of Moab she had heard that the Lord had paid attention to his people by providing food for them. She left the place where she ha

Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-25

Revelation 21:106a

Where did ideas such as celibacy and the secondary role of women come from? And when and why did progressive churches like the United Church of Christ abandon them?

Why don’t we see big events like in the past? Is God afraid of us because we have become so mean, dangerous and careless?

It was still the first day of the week. That evening, while the disciples were behind closed doors because they were afraid of the Jewish authorities, Jesus came and stood among them. He said, “Peace be with you.” After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you don’t forgive them, they aren’t forgiven.”  Thomas, the one called Didymus one of the Twelve, wasn’t with the disciples when Jesus came. The other disciples told him, “We’ve seen the Lord!”  But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, put my finger in the wounds left by the nails, and put my hand into his side, I won’t believe.”  After eight days his disciples were again in a house and Thomas was with them. Even though the doors were locked, Jesus entered and s

Luke 24:1-12 Easter Sunday

Six days before Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, home of Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters hosted a dinner for him. Martha served and Lazarus was among those who joined him at the table. Then Mary took an extraordinary amount, almost three-quarters of a pound of very expensive perfume made of pure nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet with it, then wiped his feet dry with her hair. The house was filled with the aroma of the perfume. Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was about to betray him), complained, “This perfume was worth a year’s wages! Why wasn’t it sold and the money given to the poor?” (He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief. He carried the money bag and would take what was in it.)    Then Jesus said, “Leave her alone. This perfume was to be used in preparation for my burial, and this is how she has used it. You will always have the poor among you, but you won’t always have me.”    THE ANCIENT LESSON Deuteronomy 15: