I’ve been hearing the word “unprecedented” quite a bit lately. The word means “never known or done before,” which may not describe the COVID19 pandemic exactly, but it has at least been about a lifetime since we’ve had something similar. We certainly haven’t had the technology that we have today to deal with the pandemic,…

There’s this band I like. Their name is the Hold Steady. There’s a lot that I like about them. But one of the things that I like most is how they end a show.  They start by playing “Killer Parties,” the last song from their first album with this great bass line. And at the…

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” is one of those phrases that bunches of people think comes from Scripture, but doesn’t. See also: “This too shall pass,” “God helps those who help themselves.” It actually appears to be a paraphrase of a quote by the philosopher Francis Bacon who said, “Cleanness of the body was ever…

Ashes, dust, human, mortal, finite. All of these things describe us. They describe who we are in relation to the world. They describe who we are in relation to God. This relational human life becomes a series of lens shifts, expanding the frame to keep from being lonely or bored, or narrowing it to keep…

Recently Pastor Jay announced that he had received a call from Holy Trinity Tampa FL. Understanding that there are many questions about this process and what it entails, this email newsletter will seek to explain how the entire process works in our church body. This is a longer article than what we normally publish, but…

We’re continuing a sort of Bible study series of the first part of 1 Corinthians which serve as the Epistle readings during the season of Epiphany. Since I’m not really preaching specifically on these texts, I figured that the newsletter was a great place to engage with them. Today we’re looking at 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.…

We are continuing a study on the readings from 1 Corinthians during Epiphany season. Today we look at this upcoming week’s reading from 1 Corinthians 2:1-12. A Pivot After Failure? – Paul starts off chapter 2 by reminiscing about his time in Corinth. Acts 18 tells us that Paul went to Corinth directly after having…

We’re continuing a sort of online Bible study of the readings from 1 Corinthians during Epiphany. Today we are looking at this week’s upcoming reading, 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. Deja vu All Over Again – We begin this week’s reading with a line from last week’s reading – verse 18, which reads, “For the word of…

Today we are taking a look at what is happening in 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, the epistle reading for this coming Sunday. Throughout Epiphany we are reading through the early parts of 1 Corinthians, but the sermons focus largely on the Gospel texts, so we’re addressing the epistle text here.  Chloe’s Tattletales – Paul mentions that…

Welcome to the season of Epiphany! This week we are starting a period of time when we will be reading through a book of the Bible in our Sunday lectionary lessons. That book is Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. I won’t be using the Corinthians readings as the primary texts for my sermons, but…