Scott Hoezee puts it this way: “I didn’t tell you everything,” John said, “but what I have told you is meant to generate faith in your heart.” In this Eastertide Season, and years beyond that first Easter, the fact that we are here still celebrating Jesus’ victory over death lets us know that when John said he had given us enough, he was exactly right. John 20.19-31
We are told right up front that the day that came to be called Easter began while it was still dark. ”Easter may lead to the light, but it begins in the darkness. Easter may ultimately be about things that are high, bright, light, and clear, but it begins in things that are low, dim, dark, and murky…” So what? Good question. Scott Hoezee says: “The setting from which the resurrection emerges shapes what the resurrection means (if it means anything to you at all).” John 20.1-18
Did someone name the donkey? It should be named Christopher…from the Greek Christos combined with pherin ‘to bear, carry.) Christ-bearer. What does being a Christ-bearer mean in this day and time? Matthew 21.1-11
Romans 12
The centerpiece of the story is the feast. Why is the feast so important? Feasts (meals) signified acceptance and relationship. Who might we consider having to dinner if we took this parable seriously? Luke 15.11-32
OCC
Dinners
having a feast for the students
The younger brother in the story gets a Pharisee for an older but we do not. There IS one who obeyed the Father completely…and he is the one telling the story! Luke 15.1-6, 25-32
BOTH sons want the father’s things but not the father. One tries to get the things by being very, very bad and the other by being very, very good. And Jesus says they are BOTH aliented from each other, from the father, and from God. There are TWO lost sons in this story. Luke 15.11-32
NY
NYS
faith
love
“The mountain was the way for God to prepare a small group of disciples for a sacred journey…to offer something to hold onto when they descended into the crushing reality of the world below.” (Anschutz) Such was the mount of transfiguration. Such is the intent of the Canadian Canoe Trip for Pastor’s. Matthew 17.1-9
Please enjoy some pictures of the Canoe Trip.
canoe trip for pastors
“We Are,’ Not ‘We Should Be” Key words and phrases- Are you a thermometer or a thermostat? Character and Conduct. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Salt as a preservative. Lighthouse on the entrance to the harbor in Cleveland Ohio. Lost ship. Matthew 5: 13-20 Isaiah 58:1-9
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“The Spirit of the Beatitudes” – Keywords and thoughts – The BE Attitudes, Checklist of how we are doing on the blessings scale, Living in the Spirit, Simplicity, hopefulness, compassion. How much “clutter is in your life? How much of it is absolutely necessary? Matthew 5: 1-12
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