The disciples had been following Jesus for three years. Jesus had even named some of them—his inner circle of 12—as his apostles. They had walked with him, shared meals with him, spent time around the campfire with him, no-doubt engaged in long, heartfelt conversations with him. Yet they still didn’t “get” him; what he had come to do, and what it meant to really follow him. Read the full text. 

Our sermon series this Lent is about surrender; surrendering ourselves—our brains our bodies, our will and our lives—to Jesus. Which, I will admit, is hard. And, in today’s scripture, we see why. In this scripture, from the book of Proverbs, we are told to trust God, not our own insight. We are told to acknowledge God rather than being “wise in your own eyes.” And in setting up this contrast, the author of this passage is presenting us with a choice. This isn’t one of those both/and things, this is either/or. Trust God or trust yourself. Trust God with your life, your well being, your future; or trust yourself. And the author is clear. Trusting God is the way to go. Read the full text. 

This passage is from one of my very favorite stories in the entire Bible. It’s the story of the Samaritan woman that Jesus meets at the well. In this story, Jesus is traveling from Judea in the south back up north to his home base in Galilee. In between is Samaria. As we’ve talked about before, the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t like each other … at all. Read the full text. 

As I considered today’s scripture, I got to thinking about when I first came back to the church. I remember being surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it. The pastor’s messages were usually at least a little bit interesting and almost always amusing. I met and made some good friends. It was a good thing. Read the full text. 

Last week I mentioned that when I first became a follower of Jesus, I gave. Somewhere in the neighborhood of ten dollars a month. I understood from what the preacher had said that I was supposed to give, so Kirsten and I gave. We figured ten dollars a month just about satisfied our obligation. So, when I wrote that check at the beginning of the month, I figured Kirsten and I had done our duty. We had met our requirement. We had paid our church tax to keep the facilities running and the worship flowing. Read the full text. 

Growing up, I was selfish. No sugarcoating it. I’ve shared about my 5th birthday party. How, as I unwrapped each present, there was an ever-growing pile of toys next to my little throne, but whenever another kid tried to play with one of them, I immediately dropped the toy I was unwrapping, chased them down like a dog, retrieved the toy, and restored it to its proper place on the pile. Read the full text here.

They just couldn’t get their heads around it. It was so brutal, so sacreligious. The Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, had brutally tortured and killed a group of Galilean revolutionaries. But that wasn’t enough, he then committed the ultimate sacrilege of mixing their blood with the Jewish sacrificial offerings. Read the full text. 

Jesus seems pretty clear in this scripture. “Ask for what you wish and it will be done for you.” He says similar things in other scripture. For instance, in Matthew’s Gospel, 17:20, he says if you’ve got faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains. Read the full text. 

As a pastor, I have presided at a lot of funerals. And this is one of the two or three scriptures that seem to be read at just about every funeral. It’s a beautiful, comforting image. For me it stirs up visions of maybe sitting by the fireplace on a cold day, reunited with family and friends. But is it real? Read the full text here. 

One of the things I am enjoying about this sermon series on wrestling with doubt is that I can relate to almost everything we’re talking about. So, for instance, today we will be discussion the question of who’s going to heaven or, to put it a little differently, who’s saved? I shared a few weeks ago how I went away from the church and from God early in my life. And one of the things that took me away from the church and kept me there was this very question. Read the full text here.

Last week we talked about the question of whether there really is a God. We talked about how we all believe in something, either in God or in something else. I explained how and why I choose to believe in God, and invited all of you to make the same choice. But there are a lot of people, maybe some of you, who just aren’t there yet. There are a lot of people who may generally believe in some sort of higher power, but they have a difficult time believing in God, at least God as we Christians understand God. Read the full text here.