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Gentle Power

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Comfort, O comfort my people. YES please! What a time, what a need for comfort we all have in our world today. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, the prophet Isaiah says. Speak tenderly to these United States and to this world we live in as we approach the new year, two thousand twenty-four. Cry to her that her time of suffering, pain, and violence have been served, the penalty paid, enough. Enough bad news, devastation and despair. We’ve already had a double portion. Into this darkness and pain a voice cries out:

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

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Are We There Yet?

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In Jesus’ time, wedding guests would gather at the home of the bride to be entertained while everyone waited for the groom to arrive. When the bridegroom was close, the bridesmaids and the guests would go out to greet him. And with their lamps lit, they would form a procession to the groom’s house for the ceremony and the multiple day feast!

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

The Feast of All Saints and the Masks We Wear

Masks can conceal, masks can reveal, and masks can transform. Today we are celebrating the Feast of All Saints when we remember all the saints. When we think about the saints, we normally think about them as amazing super Christians, that they are extra righteous and good and perfect. And I promise you they are not. If you read their histories, not their hagiographies, you will discover they are folks just like you and me, with all their quirks and foibles, all of their errors and yes, sins. What makes the saints different, I think, is

Read Bingham’s entire reflection on All Saints by clicking “Read More.”

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Rupture and Reconciliation: Walking the Way of Love

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It is also a story of a clash of two different world views or mindsets, imaginations of how this world should operate. One mindset is the one of the brothers, who are afraid. It is a mindset of punishment, revenge, vengeance, an eye for an eye justice. They know they did wrong, they know they should be punished for it, and are afraid of what that punishment is going to look like. That is their view of how things are probably going to go.

The other mindset is the one that Joseph has, which is the imagination of forgiveness, of mercy, of grace, of reconciliation. I think the brothers’ mindset is probably where most of the world is. A lot of the time, most of us feel that same way, too.

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

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The Intentional Practice of Love

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Jesus is teaching us the Gospel message to love. I know it is not always easy. In fact, it is rather difficult sometimes. We think of love as being that feel good feeling, but love is so much more than that. Love is the very intentional practice of caring about another person, even when there doesn’t seem to be very much to care about. Love is that act of blessing and not cursing that Paul talked about last week. Love is not an easy thing. It is one of the most challenging things to do sometimes.

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

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