A Jesus Centered Community of Scripture, Faith, and Grace
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This past Sunday our church council met for our regular monthly meeting. One of the things that we have been working on (and will continue to work on) is a vision for what we can do as a church and student center over the next five years. Since this isn’t just a vision for the…
I’m writing this on Wednesday morning before Hurricane Milton makes landfall later tonight. When you read it, we will be receiving reports about the impact of Hurricane Milton just as we did from Hurricane Helene. Right now, there are people across my social media feeds sending out requests for prayer as Milton approaches. So it…
I don’t know about you, but I have clear memories of my mother telling me, “Jay, patience is a virtue.” It was perhaps the first thing that I knew to call a “virtue”. It’s also something that I have to tell myself most times when I find myself standing in line for something. Recently at…
See if you can identify these catch phrases from tv and movie characters: “Stop trying to make ‘fetch’ happen.” “D’oh!” “Winter is coming.” “That’s what she said.” “Say hello to my little friend.” Maybe a few of them stumped you, but you probably connected to at least one of the catch phrases. Perhaps in your…
The word that we most commonly translate as “disciple” is the Greek word “matheteis”. At the most basic level, it just means “learner”. Often times a matheteis was a particular kind of learner, someone who was in a sort of apprenticeship program, but not always. I think that unfortunately, sometimes Christians don’t feel like they…
I announced this past Sunday that I have received a call to First Lutheran Church in Gainesville FL. As of right now, I am still prayerfully considering the possibility that God is calling me to leave University Lutheran and lead that church. Considering a call is a torturous process for a pastor, as it is…
We had an interesting intersection this week between our two “Jesus Centered” challenges: a. Our red letter challenge came from Mark 16:15, “Preach the Gospel” b. Our “Together with Jesus” challenge involved reading Mark 15 and 16 If you listened to the podcast, you got an earful about how Mark 16:9-20 brings up some questions…
Pastor Jay has been gone for a little bit, so you may have dropped behind in your reading for Mark. We recommend that you catch up via the podcast with the following episodes: Mark 7 and 8 – https://universitylutheranchurch.org/sermons/together-with-jesus-mark-7-and-8/ Mark 9 and 10 – https://universitylutheranchurch.org/sermons/together-with-jesus-mark-9-and-10/ Mark 11 and 12 – https://universitylutheranchurch.org/sermons/together-with-jesus-mark-11-and-12/
I have rarely been without clothes. When Jesus tells the people in Matthew 25, “I was naked and you clothed Me,” I have a hard time conceptualizing that personally. But I can understand not having the right clothes. I remember moving to the United States from a tropical country and needing a winter coat. There…
BYSSIW. Because You said so, I will. This week’s red letter challenge is from John 14:15, “If you love Me, you will obey My commands.” This is a tough verse for a lot of people. Unfortunately, some people can use it to make Christianity look very transactional. But we know that isn’t the case for…