Tag: the Church
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Conviction
I am behind everywhere in my life. At a time when it feels wrong to say nothing at all, because what is happening is happening now, and how things “will turn out” is actually partly up to each one of us. I normally feel I can’t do much to affect “big things.” My world is […]
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Second Sunday After Epiphany
Today was one of those days when a lot of ideas come together. And probably suggest some things I need to do about them … First, we ended up going overtime in the not-that-early class, because of talking about the timeline of ancient Israelite history and its relationship to 1 Kings and the likely time […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – 2 Corinthians 13 1-11
We are studying 2 Corinthians 13:1-11 for Sunday, November 3 (which is also the kick-off for “Golden Rule 2020,” and is All Saints’ Day, and is time change – “fall back” – Sunday). Our text is Paul’s concluding exhortation to the members of the church in Corinth in the early 50s CE to consider what […]
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Fifth Sunday of Easter
Some days at church are like this: The day is already good, even wonderful – and then it gets better. Some days at church are like this: I didn’t even know how much I needed to hear someone to say this, from the pulpit, even after all this time. Our class is always good, wonderful, […]
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Second Sunday of Easter
The Preacher says there’s a time for everything. You know: “A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance,” etc. etc. Ecclesiastes 3. “Turn turn turn.” A time to meet, and a time to say good-bye. We’re adults, we understand, we do. We understand that people […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion – Matthew 28 16-20 and Acts 1 6-8
We are studying two short texts, Matthew 28:16-20 and Acts 1:6-8, for Sunday, April 29. Both concern Jesus’ last instructions to “the eleven,” after his resurrection and just prior to his ascension. [Some notes on these texts are here.] Here are a few questions about these texts we might want to consider before or during […]
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Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A long day, but a good one. We were fortunate to have Rev. Dennis Smith, with whom our congregation has had a mission relationship for many years, visit and come study the Bible with us and preach on Mark 8:27-38 and stay for brunch and fill us in on how things are going in S. […]
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Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Presbytery of Ohio Valley* met yesterday, at Camp PYOCA. The times I’ve been there in the past, I was taking little girls to summer camp, or picking them up, so attending a meeting of “the wider church” there with a hundred or so grown-ups was a different experience. But the famous cinnamon rolls were […]
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Notes on Matthew 18 21-35
The Uniform Series or “common text” for Sunday, July 1 is Matthew 18:21-35, “the parable of the unforgiving servant.” Here are some notes on the text:
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Around “A Bigger Table”
[Sharing reflections on John Pavlovitz. A Bigger Table: Building Messy, Authentic, and Hopeful Spiritual Community. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017.] The adult class at our church has been reading and discussing A Bigger Table by John Pavlovitz for the past several weeks. Pavlovitz “went viral” in 2014, with his blog post “If I Have […]
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Notes on John 21 1-14
Notes and one perspective on John 21:1-14, the Uniform Series Sunday school text for April 8, 2018
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Fourth Sunday in Lent
In Sunday school we spent time thinking about what a record of elaborate formal national worship might say to us, or how it might serve as any kind of model for our own worship. We noted the attitude of humility Solomon adopts, and people shared stories of kneeling in prayer – interestingly, childhood memories, of […]
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Questions for Reflection and Discussion (Ephesians 4 1-16)
The Uniform Series text for Sunday, December 31, is Ephesians 4:1-16. Here are some questions we might get to in our class on this text: In v1, the author says he is “the prisoner in the Lord.” Later, he talks about the “bond of peace” (v3). Later, he talks about Christ “making captivity itself a […]
Matters of Interpretation 