Paul

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Ordinary People - Extraordinary Ministries

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In today’s readings we hear about Peter and from Paul, two of the giants of early Christianity. Contemporaries, they became followers of Jesus very differently, though they reportedly met the same end, martyred by Nero in Rome.

At the time Jesus began his ministry Peter was a fisherman who apparently fished with his brother Andrew and their partners James and John. Based on the fact he was sometimes called Simon, or Simon Peter, he was likely not simply an Aramaic-speaking Jew but rather one who knew at least some Greek as well as Aramaic and perhaps Hebrew. Peter is believed to have lived in Capernaum on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee where he and his brother and their friends fished.

Listen to or read Sharon’s entire sermon by clicking “Read More.”

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God loves. God is love.

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You are loveable because God loves you. Reflect on that, and then ask yourself, what can I do in response. I, who have this enormous amount of love filling me every day, how can I share that same love with someone else? At work, at home, at school, on the street, in the store, wherever you are think of how you can share that love with my neighbors, with my enemies, with all of creation. How can I share that love that God has already given me in grace? Why? Because God loves you.

Listen to or read Bingham's entire sermon by clicking "Read More."

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Love: Foundation and Cornerstone of Our Faith

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I don’t know about you, but it feels like love is in short supply these days. Two years of a pandemic made us all grumpier, a little shorter with each other, it’s harder to pull that love together. We realize this was going on before the pandemic. If you read history, you know it has always been this way. Love has always been in short supply, even among those of us who profess to follow a God who is love

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost by clicking “Read More.”

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The Advent of Love

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Our second reading today come from Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians and in it he says, "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy that we feel before our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you face to face." These words from Paul strike a different chord nearly two years into this pandemic. This chord resonates more profoundly than ever before.

Listen to or read Bingham’s entire sermon for the 1st Sunday of Advent by clicking “Read More.”

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The Foolish Wisdom of God

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"The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age?"

This is a rhetorical question Paul is asking today. If it had been a serious question, the answer could have been something like, look in the mirror, Paul. You are an excellent debater yourself. Many of Paul's arguments have withstood the test of time, afterall. Another serious answer to the question could have been

Click “Read More” to read or listen to Bingham’s entire sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Lent.

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Tempered by Love

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What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? To follow him on the way of love. This love that Saint Paul says is the only way to get through the challenges and the conflicts the community in Corinth is facing. This way of love that Jesus calls us to at this time also. This way of love that we need to get through these challenges that we face as a community, the political divisions, this pandemic, racial injustice. All of it can only be gotten through if we follow the way of love, love for our neighbor, love for the other, the way of love that Jesus came to show us.

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