“Now when Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed him, for they were all waiting for him. 41 Just then there came a man named Jairus, a leader of the synagogue. He fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him to come to his house, 42 for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, who was dying. As…
One of the truths we see over and over again in the Gospel of Luke is that Jesus can put people’s lives back together. People who have been physically sick, mentally impaired, socially branded, enslaved by sin – all have their lives put together and made whole by Jesus. One of the reasons why Luke’s…
“James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your…
In today’s scripture from the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is leaving home where people share his nationality and religious tradition. His latest attempts among them have been greeted by opposition from leaders and misunderstanding from the disciples. He has to be a little frustrated. Perhaps it isn’t too surprising that Jesus decides to get out…
If you’re reading through the Gospels this summer, you know that yesterday we began the Gospel of Mark. If you haven’t been it’s a convenient time to jump in. Mark’s Gospel starts with lots of action. Jesus is encountering all kinds of people and situations and things are happening “immediately.”
On Monday morning I received the following email from a church member. “Good Morning Doug! I wanted to tell you how much I valued your sermon yesterday. Stepping stones and stumbling blocks are a good thing to remember for the week and I look forward to reading the chapter tomorrow. Yesterday I arrived at church…
I appreciate the kind comments I’ve received about my dad’s message last Sunday. He’s a pretty good preacher for 81-years-old, isn’t he? For the coming weeks our themes in worship will be coming from chapters in the Gospels that many of us are reading through this summer. If you haven’t started it isn’t too late…
Rev. Dr. Victor Scalise, Jr., at Brewster Baptist Church John 14:1-6, New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a…
Suffering has been part of human existence from the beginning of time. While stories like the tornado in Oklahoma, the Boston Marathon bombing, the shootings in Newtown, CT, or storms like Sandy tend to dominate the news media, there are so many more individual stories of loss, suffering, and pain – most of which we…