With all that is going on in our world, it is easy to allow ourselves to be overcome by feelings of despair.  The news shows us a deeply divided country, with daily reports of protests, injustices directed toward others, and negativity.  Our own church is struggling with change. We choose sides as to whom to blame.  Many see no hope for our future. We as Christians can and should have a different outlook on our current situation:  we might just need another reminder of who our God is. King...

This week's reflection provided by Donna Maley:  This past Sunday, the readings were Genesis 45:3-11 and Luke 6:27-38. In the Genesis passage, Joseph sees his brothers years after they had sold him into slavery. His brothers feared him, but he was very gracious to them and had forgiven them. In the Luke passage, Jesus is teaching about loving enemies--"love your enemies," "turn the other cheek," etc. Dr. Kim addressed both of these readings in his sermon Sunday; and as he said, this is tough...

Philippians 4:4-6 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forebearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. How is it possible to not give in to a negative “Woe is me" attitude when we are without an installed minister, a Christian educator, an organist/choir director, and still being beset by COVID? Yet Paul tells us to rejoice in God and...

Luke 2:22-40 When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons." Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; this man was righteous and devout, looking forward to the...

On Sunday, Rev. Dr. Harsh spoke to us about the God’s Gift for the World using Paul’s letter in Corinth. The scripture includes, but is not limited to 1 Corinthians 12:12-14: "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many." Paul’s...

Hebrews 6:1-12 “Therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation: repentance from dead works and faith toward God, 2instruction about baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3And we will do this, if God permits” (Hebrews 6:1-3) Today’s lectionary reading from Hebrews is a good reminder that sometimes these readings pick up in the middle of things and, if we don’t go back and come...

Genesis 4:1-16 “Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, ‘I have produced a man with the help of the LORD.’ Next she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground” (Genesis 4:1-2) In the second creation story, man is created from the ground – formed by God out of clay and left inanimate until God breathes God’s Spirit into the man – and from this man God takes a rib in order to make woman. The man is named Adam, which is...

2 John 1:1-13 “Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love….”  “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning – you must walk in it. 7Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist!”  (2 John 1:3, 6-7) Somewhere in recent...

Luke 1:57-66 “Then they began motioning to his father to find out what name he wanted to give him. 63He asked for a writing tablet and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And all of them were amazed. 64Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue freed, and he began to speak, praising God.” (Luke 1:62-64) This part of John’s nativity story always scares the dickens out of me. I mean, what else could you expect when a pastor reads a story about a priest who loses his voice? It’s sort of like a...

Zechariah 3:1-10 “The angel said to those who were standing before him, ‘Take off his filthy clothes.’ And to him he said, ‘See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.’” (Zechariah 3:4) The “ugly Christmas sweater” has become a sort of staple in modern society. Some folks even throw Christmas parties with this as the theme where the “winner” with the ugliest Christmas sweater gets some sort of prize. (Think: Rudolph with a flashing red nose serving as...