Possessed...by the Holy Spirit

Today's reading from Mark talks about a man possessed with an unclean spirit, and how Jesus cast it out of him.  We're not quite sure what to do with stories about "unclean spirits" inhabiting people, but I believe they are more real than we might admit.  Christ casts out the unclean spirits in our lives, and in our baptisms we are given the Holy Spirit, now and forever.

You have to check this out!

Have you ever had a meal so good you just had to have some more?  So good that you had to tell all your friends about it?  It's hard to imagine why these Galilean fishermen we read about today leave their entire lives behind to follow Jesus.  One way to look at it is that they had tasted the goodness of the kingdom of God, and they could not go without experiencing some more.

Come and see

 In our society today, many people have come not to expect the church to fit in to their lives.  In today's gospel text from John, Nathanael didn't expect much from the guy from Nazareth.  But Nathanael's friend simply repeats the invitation Jesus had given to his friends just before, "come and see."  Come and see that the Messiah came from a nowhere town, but came bringing unexpected new life to the world.  Come and see that God forms the church out of ordinary people, and that we can expect the Holy Spirit to keep surprising us.

The heavens torn open!

Today my supervisor, Pr. Kurt Strause, and I switched places.  Pr. Strause led worship at Christ and I was over at Emmanuel Lutheran on Walnut Street.  I brought our greetings to them as we continued to highlight our cooperation in ministry.  I have posted the sermon I preached there below.  I focused on the fact that when Jesus emerged from the river Jordan after he was baptized, Mark tells us that Jesus saw "the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him."  This remarkable detail underscores the significance of Jesus' baptism.  Afterwards, nothing would be the same for us or for God's creation.

Why Are We Here?

Discussions continued on Sunday, December 11, around the question "why are we here?"  We considered our purpose as a congregation and whether or not we are living into God's purpose for us. 

Again, what follows is verbatim from the responses recorded on the group sheets.  Duplicate responses from the groups have been preserved.  I thank God for each of you and for the gifts you are and you bring to our congregation.  These are the discussions we MUST have to live into God's future for us and for our community.

Our next session will be on Sunday, January 29, when we will discuss, "Who Are Our Neighbors?"

The word became flesh

I have to admit, the prologue to John which we heard today in worship is my favorite passage of scripture.  John elegantly weaves together the complex relationship of God and the Word.  Although we could spend a lot of time exploring their relationship, and it is important, God's love for us shines clear in that the Word became flesh.  God entered into our humanity in the infant Jesus.  Babies aren't perfect, and neither are we.  But our human limitations are good enough for God.