Weekly Moravian Message: August 13, 2017
Festival of August 13 — August 13, 2017 Renewal of the Moravian Church On August 13, 1727, exiles from Moravia (now the Czech Republic) on the German estate of Count Zinzendorf felt God’s blessing in a dramatic fashion. They experienced a moment of transformation much as the apostles had at Pentecost. Five years before, the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: August 6, 2017
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost — August 6, 2017 Source of Compassion Jesus needed to get away. He had just heard about the death of John the Baptist. He sought the solitude of a lonely place, but the crowds followed. When he saw them, he was moved with compassion for them—compassion enough to change his plans […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 30, 2017
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost — July 30, 2017 The Kingdom of Grace Treasure stories are common in every culture, and were very popular in Jesus’ day. The rabbis frequently told treasure parables: “A man buys a field and works the land. His plow hits something hard, and behold, there’s a great treasure, making the man […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 23, 2017
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost — July 23, 2017 The Weeds and the Wheat Today’s bulletin cover draws attention to the wheat, but I’m equally aware of the weeds. The parable’s matter-of-fact acknowledgment and response to evil (the weeds) is not to my liking. I want evil to be addressed and eradicated immediately. Jesus’ teaching doesn’t […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 9, 2017
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost — July 9, 2017 Rest in Jesus The front of this bulletin shows Jesus’ words from Matthew 11. Another version reads, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” You may be reading this message at a church service. During the service the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 2, 2017
Festival of John Hus, Martyred July 6, 1415 — July 2, 2017 The Human Face of the Good News Keenly aware of the growing corruption in his beloved Catholic Church of the early fifteenth century, John Hus saw a disconnect between the biblical witness and how the church was actually living out its purpose. Because […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 25, 2017
Third Sunday after Pentecost — June 25, 2017 Nothing to Fear In today’s Gospel passage Jesus shares with his disciples sayings about facing opposition, before they go off on a mission of healing and preaching. As Jesus was called names, we will be called names as well. We experience struggle and opposition at times. If […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 18, 2017
Second Sunday after Pentecost – June 18, 2017 That’s what you do Jesus is on a mission: teaching, proclaiming, and curing, as he travels through the countryside. He cannot help but notice that the crowds—and there are always crowds—appear harassed and help-less. Who can blame them? Beaten down by problems and cares, surrounded by illness […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 11, 2017
Trinity Sunday June 11, 2017 I am with you It is fitting that Matthew’s Gospel, which begins by naming Jesus Emmanuel, meaning “God is with us” (Matthew 1:23), would have the last words of the Gospel remind us that “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (28:20). Everything between describing the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 4, 2017
Pentecost Sunday June 4, 2017 The Only Way to Attain Peace English teachers caution against the passive voice. “The ball was hit.” Who hit it? In the passive voice it’s not always clear who controls the action. “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 28, 2017
Seventh Sunday of Easter Be Prepared The motto for both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts in America is simply “Be Prepared.” We can’t know exactly what will happen in the immediate future, much less in the months and years to come. The days may progress more or less the way we have hoped […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 21, 2017
Sixth Sunday of Easter Spirit Watchers Each one of us sees the world differently. Our experience, expertise, and knowledge can sometimes sharpen what we notice about the world around us. For example, when I taste a bland dish for the first time, I might say, “This needs something, but I don’t know what.” Yet a […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 14, 2017
Fifth Sunday of Easter Troubled Hearts When we lived in the Midwest, a visit to distant family could at times seem like more effort and trouble than it might be worth—days away and pastor coverage, arrangements for flights and rental cars, pass-ports and time zones. However, whatever time of day or night we arrived, no […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 7, 2017
Fourth Sunday of Easter Listening to the Good Shepherd Jesus is our shepherd and leads to the way of life. A clear truth spoken to in John’s Gospel—a truth, however, that is sometimes hard to grasp. How often do we look for other guides for life’s ultimate answers? How often do we look to a […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 30, 2017
Third Sunday of Easter Encountered by Jesus On what road is Jesus encountering you? As a few disciples walk and talk about what has happened, Jesus comes near and goes with them, but “their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16). Jesus inquires about their discussion. They stand “still, looking sad.” What gives you […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 23, 2017
Second Sunday of Easter Jesus Is with You After revealing himself to Mary Magdalene on Easter morning, Jesus sent her to share the glad news of his resurrection with his disciples. We may never understand their state of mind when they received the news from Mary, or whether they even believed her. But later that […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 16, 2017
Easter Sunday Good News The belief we share that Jesus of Nazareth was God incarnate, and that he lived, suffered, died, and lived again, is good news. We think of it as such and call it so. We declare it to be the Good News, news surpassing in goodness all other news. And it was […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 9, 2017
Palm Sunday God Is in Charge Through this Lenten season (and these bulletin backs), I have asked how God dares to enter into our world, “grounding” Godself with the very ordinary stuff of our lives, in order to show how the extraordinary happens. Walking through the Gospel stories from John about the ordinary things like […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 2, 2017
Fifth Sunday in Lent Weeping Someone once said that there are only two things certain about life: death and taxes. Yet it is one of those certain things and one of those ordinary things about life—death itself—that Jesus challenges in our Gospel passage from John today. Lazarus, we are told, has physically died—an ordinary death, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 26, 2017
Fourth Sunday in Lent Seeing You will read this passage about light just a few weeks after our clocks have been turned ahead one hour in most of the United States to observe Daylight Savings Time. This will bring more light to our evenings, so that many of us will enjoy an extra hour of […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 19, 2017
Third Sunday in Lent Thirsty The poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge writes, “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink,” words from a sailor challenged to find a way to quench his thirst amid the salty sea water. Fresh water is essential to human survival, re-minding us of the ordinary nature of the story in John’s […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 12, 2017
Second Sunday in Lent Shining Last Sunday, as the season of Lent began, we suggested that God was present in the midst of the temptations of Jesus, that God could use the ordinary struggles that Jesus faced—of bread, mortality, and power—to do extraordinary things. Over this season of Lent, we will be walking through several […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 5, 2017
First Sunday in Lent Grounded In teaching his disciples how to pray, Jesus shares this: “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (or as the NRSV version of Matthew 6:13 states, “And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one”). Yet in our […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 26, 2017
Last Sunday after the Epiphany Transfiguration of Our Lord The Rhythm of the Christian Life Why do you come to worship on a Sunday morning? Maybe you come to find a bit of peace; to get away from your problems for an hour. Or maybe you come to get motivated and empowered to face your […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 19, 2017
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany Another Way It just seems too good to be true, but then again . . . Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount about nonviolence and the love of our enemies are a bit of a head-scratcher. Does he really mean what he says? “Turn the other cheek . […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 12, 2017
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany Understanding the Law In our text for today, Jesus does not discard the law. Instead, he interprets the law by teaching that the laws are not mere rules. They are actually the way to being in right relationship with God and with neighbor. As Jesus cuts through the people’s understanding […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 5, 2017
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany The Jesus of Flavor In the past couple of years, during my time at our children’s ministry at Esperanza for Bethlehem, I kept hearing these remarks from our kids regarding the meal preparation: “Pastora, you did not prepare this meal right.” Because it needed some “adobo” Spanish seasoning. I realized […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 29, 2017
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany “Favored by God” The scriptural Beatitudes are an important list of nine “blessed” verses, or “favored by God” verses, as the Greek word actually translates. In this, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus confers a blessing upon various groups of people who are characterized by what they […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 22, 2017
Third Sunday after the Epiphany “Come with me!” “Come with me!” (Matthew 4:19 CEV). That is one version of Jesus’ invitation “Follow me.” Sometimes we call ourselves “followers of Jesus.” I prefer that phrase to “Christians,” because of some of the statements and actions that people label as Christian. I ask, “Would Jesus do that? […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 15, 2017
Second Sunday after the Epiphany Jesus Our Lamb When John the Baptist cried out, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” you can imagine how startling that may have been to those who stood by. Every Israelite understood and at one point had experienced the sacrifice of a lamb—or […]