Tag: baptism
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Reflecting on Matthew 14 22-33
We are studying Matthew 14:22-33 for Sunday, June 27 – Matthew’s version of the story of Jesus walking on water, which includes Peter also walking on water, briefly. [Some notes on the text are here.] Here are some questions we might want to think about or discuss: The place descriptions in this story might be…
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Studying Matthew 14 22-33
We are studying Matthew 14:22-33 for Sunday, June 27. This is the story in which Jesus walks on water. Peter manages to walk on water, too, for one verse. [Here are some questions on the text.] Here are my notes on this text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: We are a few chapters further on in Matthew’s…
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Studying Matthew 3 1-12
We are studying Matthew 3:1-12 for Sunday, December 27 – studying, that is, when we are not preoccupied with whatever Christmas plans we are carrying out this week. [Some questions on the text are here.] Here are a few belated notes on our text: BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT: Our text this week is the next episode…
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Baptism of the Lord
A record number of members showed up at church on Saturday to help take down the Christmas decorations and re-fit the sanctuary for the Season After Epiphany – namely, wintry and spare. The regulars kept exclaiming “It only took us ONE HOUR” to get everything taken down and packed away and stored in the usual…
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On Being Christian
Williams, Rowan. Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer. William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2014. [An Installment of the “Read Me” Project.] This is an amazing and wonderful book. Being Christian is simple and direct, clear and lovely, and immediately recognizable as true – as something we will have already known for a long time, if…
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Fifth Sunday in Lent
The youngest member of the congregation was baptized this morning. It made for a big day. One of the things church can do for people is be a place where they are greeted with smiles of recognition. There is more to baptism, of course, but one of the things it means is “you belong here.”…
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Second Sunday in Lent
We had a great sermon today on temptation and protection. The text was Luke 4:1-13. I suppose we would have had this great sermon last week if there hadn’t been technical difficulties, but I was glad to get to hear it this week. First, there was that rather horrifying observation from the text itself when…
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion (Acts 8 26-40)
Here are some questions over the Uniform Series text, Acts 8:26-40, that we could consider in class this Sunday: How, or what, does the setting of the story – a desert road going from Jerusalem to Gaza – contribute to the meaning of the story? What are some of the meanings “the desert” or “the…
Matters of Interpretation 