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When is Patriotism An Idol?
When is Patriotism An Idol? Matthew 22:15-22 In today’s reading allegiance to the empire and to God is the issue. Jesus’ patriotism is being called into question. It was toward the end of Jesus’ ministry, just before his death. From the teachings of Jesus that surround this text, there is a feeling of urgency, and…
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The Golden Calf
The Golden Calf Exodus 32:1-14 Have you ever waited for someone or something until you just didn’t think you could wait anymore? Whether we are waiting for a letter, waiting for a repairman to arrive, waiting for a child to come home and its past curfew, waiting gets to us. Waiting is a miserable experience…
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The Landlord’s Dilemma
The Landlord’s Dilemma – World Communion Sunday Matthew 21:33-46 Once there was a man who owned a piece of property. He felt it would make a fine grape vineyard. So, he planted a vineyard on the property and enclosed it with a wall. He built a watchtower to protect his vineyard because this was a…
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Through the Wilderness
Through the Wilderness Exodus 17:1-7 · Water from the Rock Israel is underway in this story, as the church is underway. Israel’s story is our story. She has been redeemed out of slavery in Egypt, just as we have been redeemed by the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ out of our slavery to sin…
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God Will Be God
God Will Be God Matthew 20:1-16 · The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard The first lesson of Spirituality 101 is that God is God … and we are not. Sometimes we are in charge, it’s our responsibility, and the buck stops squarely in front of us. And although we may grumble and complain…
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Forgive Us Our Debts
Forgive Us Our Debts Matthew 18:21-35 · The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant As with so many of the stories of Jesus, the parable of the debtors arose out of a question that was posed to Jesus. Peter said to him: “Master, if my brother sins against me, how many times should I forgive him?…
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Bloody Lintels Broken Bread
Bloody Lintels — Broken Bread Exodus 12:1-30 · The Passover Two Russian surgeons and an anesthetist took turns lying on an operating table beside a critically-ill patient, according to the then government newspaper, Izvestia, and saved the patient’s life with direct transfusions of their own blood. Fresh blood was needed because the patient’s own blood…
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Dreaming Impossible Dreams
Dreaming Impossible Dreams Genesis 37:2-11 To dream the impossible dream, To fight the unbeatable foe, To bear the unbearable sorrow, To run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong, To love pure and chaste from afar, To try when your arms are too heavy, To reach the unreachable star. Those lyrics…
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Climbing the Right Ladder
Climbing the Right Ladder Genesis 28:10-19a How do you define success? Oliver Wendell Holmes at age 90 said, “The secret to my success is that at an early age, I discovered I was not God.” Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To leave the world a bit better, to know that even one life has breathed easier…
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Finding Answers to Family Feuds
Finding Answers to Family Feuds Genesis 25: 21-34 According to a survey done by Randy Carlson about eight years ago, 91% of American adults long to improve their relationships with their adult siblings. The pains of family life continue to haunt us, often for an entire lifetime. One of the most compelling stories of the…
