Weekly Moravian Message: August 19, 2018
Thirteen Sunday after Pentecost “The one who eats this bread will live forever” As Moravians, many of us know the table grace that begins, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest.” In my childhood home, we used the simplest form of this prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be […]
Weekly Moravian Message: August 12, 2018
Festival of August 13 The Necessary Ingredient “Love Each Other.” Easy for Jesus to say. After all, Jesus is God and God is love. But Jesus must have known that this commandment, along with the other one, which says in effect, “Love God with everything you’ve got,” would be the hardest one for his disciples […]
Weekly Moravian Message: August 5, 2018
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost “Give us this bread always” The book Sleeping with Bread: Holding What Gives You Life begins with the story of children orphaned after bombing raids in World War II. Many were safe and cared for in refugee camps, but could not sleep because of the magnitude of what they had lost. […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 29, 2018
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost “Jesus took the loaves and when he had given thanks, he distributed them” For three years, the church I serve has been part of a program that provides bags of food for elementary school children to take home on the weekend. The “Weekend Nutrition Program” started with our congregation and a […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 22, 2018
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost Using What God Has Given Here we find a story that many of us may have heard before, Jesus feeding the five thousand. It is easy to be amazed at Jesus’ miraculous feeding or skeptical about how something like this could ever be possible. Instead of offering a debate on the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 15, 2018
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost Confronting Leadership The story of the execution of John the Baptist reminds us that the Bible is not really a book for children; rather, it is a book primarily about and for adults. But this does not mean that no parts of the Bible can be shared with children as we […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 8, 2018
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost Not Much to Offer? Last winter, at a congregational retreat of fifteen men aged thirty to eighty, we ate together, we skied and snowshoed together, played games together, sang together, and had hours of serious conversation together. Parents talked about how trying to raise children with healthy, respectful attitudes toward the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: July 1, 2018
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost “Get up!” In the Hebrew Scriptures, one verb that appears over and over is קוּם, pronounced “koom.” It means “Get up.” Almost always, it is God, or God’s messenger, who says it. The people of Israel knew loss of life, loss of home, and even loss of faith. Over and over, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 24, 2018
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost The Miracle of Assurance The miracle of calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee was proof that Jesus was the Son of God, but this miracle left the disciples bewildered and confused as to who Jesus was. Who was this man who could command the wind and the waves to […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 17, 2018
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost Just Small Seeds The prison has a sidewalk that comes to the prison chapel front door, with an area on each side of the sidewalk for bushes and flowers. Some years those areas have looked nice; some years they haven’t. One day Andy, an inmate at the prison, stopped by the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 10, 2018
Third Sunday after Pentecost A House Divided Have you ever started telling a story, and then, after starting, you inserted another story? This is a device Mark uses often. In today’s story we find Jesus being begged by his family to come home, withdraw from his mission. They are frightened by what is being said […]
Weekly Moravian Message: June 3, 2018
Second Sunday after Pentecost Practicing Sabbath In 1961, the North Carolina General Assembly passed “An Act to Prohibit Certain Business Activities on Sunday,” which restricted the sale and the buying of certain items (clothing, household items, clocks, luggage, office supplies, etc.) on Sunday. Anyone violating these “blue laws” was subject to a hefty fine or […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 27, 2018
Trinity Sunday Born of Water and Spirit It is convenient to buy an item in a grocery store in which the directions are “mix with water.” Everything that is needed is in the box—except for the water. Eating or drinking the product without water is not recommended and is not appetizing. But when mixed with […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 20, 2018
Pentecost Living into the Truth We usually think of “truth” in terms of how closely a statement accords with the facts, but there are other definitions of the word. While constructing shelving for a craft room, I discovered our home was not “true.” Walls did not meet squarely with each other, and the bubble in […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 13, 2018
Seventh Sunday of Easter Circles of Nurture Mother’s Day is and has been many different things in the lives of families through the years. Our growing awareness of the variety of family dynamics and the many different mothering roles, both within families and beyond them, may be calling us to return to some of the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: May 6, 2018
Sixth Sunday of Easter “Abide in My Love” Life in Christ is the wellspring of the joy of living, regardless of what we encounter in life. That is why Jesus’ request, “Abide in my love,” is so important for us. In the context of those words, Jesus was fully aware that his followers, beginning with […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 29, 2018
Fifth Sunday of Easter Abiding in Jesus The only time I use the word “abide” is in my relationship with Jesus. I don’t talk about abiding with my spouse or children, my mother or father, my sisters or brothers. I don’t use “abide” when I talk about my friends, even when I talk about church. […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 22, 2018
Fourth Sunday of Easter A Gift There are many different slogans, catch phrases, and songs that, once someone starts them, we can finish them. “My bologna has a first name—it’s —”; “There are some things that money can’t buy; for everything else there’s —”; “If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands.” Imagine […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 15, 2018
Third Sunday of Easter Christ the Wounded One “As I was growing up, it seemed to me that Jesus’ feet never touched the ground,” a friend said to me. That’s the Jesus many of us imagine. That is not the Jesus of Easter. “Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 8, 2018
Second Sunday of Easter The Breath of Life I know that this text is about Thomas and his serious doubts about whether Jesus is alive. But it is also about the way God provides help for us in our fear and doubting. This passage always stops me in my tracks when I hear Jesus say, […]
Weekly Moravian Message: April 1, 2018
Resurrection of Our Lord Be Ready Early in the morning, when it’s the kind of quiet that invites reflection, the women arrived at the tomb. They carried questions about how they would move the stone and do the work that they needed to do. They were prepared. However, when they arrived at the tomb, the […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 25, 2018
Palm Sunday Sadness While visiting Duluth, Minnesota, last year, I had to take the city bus to get to my destination downtown. I encountered all kinds of people while waiting at the bus stop in this poor, working-class neighbor-hood. . . . One man with a learning disability told me which bus I needed to […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 18, 2018
Fifth Sunday in Lent Surprise “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies” S O W When the good seed falls on the earth, the soil surrounds the wheat seed faith. The water softens the hard hull covering the love inside. The sun warms the good seed with real hope. God gives […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 11, 2018
Fourth Sunday in Lent Joy Last fall while canoeing and camping in northern Minnesota, I would rise up in the middle of the night in pursuit of catching a glimpse of the northern lights. Those amazing lights that dance across the northern sky often elude my eyes while living here in Ohio. My eyes never […]
Weekly Moravian Message: March 4, 2018
Third Sunday in Lent Anger Cut off at an intersection, shut down publicly by the management team, insulted by a cheerleading mom, and snubbed by a “so called” friend are just some examples of situations in which someone can push our “anger button.” Such tongue jabs trip the lever on our emotions. We steam. We […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 25, 2018
Second Sunday in Lent Disappointment Sometimes we experience displeasure and disappointment in response to an offensive object, person, or behavior: spoiled milk in the refrigerator, a roach in the kitchen, a bigot bragging at a local coffee shop, a swastika sprayed in the alley down from the church. Sometimes we disappoint someone, as Peter disappointed […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 18, 2018
First Sunday in Lent Fear Bulletin-back meditations for the 2018 Lenten season will focus on the emotions in the Gospel passages, and how our feelings can change our interpretation and understanding of the gospel. Remember watching the reality television show Fear Factor? Do we need to set five tarantulas on a man’s chest to see […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 11, 2018
Last Sunday after the Epiphany Transfiguration of Our Lord Listen to Him The Gospel of Mark is Scripture that most of us feel we can understand. The book simply witnesses to what the believers saw and heard, and then invites us to wrestle with how to live by these “nuggets of faith.” In Mark 9:7 […]
Weekly Moravian Message: February 4, 2018
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany When We Are Overwhelmed “Everyone is looking for you.” Do you ever feel that way? In this hustle-bustle, rat race of a world we live in, some days it seems as if everyone wants a piece of us. If it’s not our kids, it’s our spouse. If it’s not our […]
Weekly Moravian Message: January 28, 2018
Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Interruption A young man dressed in wrinkled clothes came into the church building one Sunday morning a few minutes before worship was scheduled to begin. He asked for some food and for some money. This urban congregation ran a weekday breakfast ministry and was also the official monthly food pantry […]