Colonial Church in Prairie Village

One wag claimed Pentecost is “the scariest day of the Christian year for mainline Protestants and those like us.” Pentecost! What if it happened here and now like it happened then and there? How might our lives be changed if God got loose today? What if people started speaking in strange tongues, or waving their arms in the air, dancing in the aisles or passing out in spiritual ecstasy? What if so...

Even when we’re doing the will of God, we live in “in-between” times. Life, we discover, is not so much an uninterrupted continuum as much as it is a series of single moments strung together like pearls on a string, a catena of experience. Each moment stands on its own, both connected and disconnected to the ones before and after it, separate and linked at the same time. We can be actively doing t...

This Sunday, we reflect on Jesus’ powerful question to a man waiting beside the Pool of Bethesda: “Do you want to be healed?” It’s a question that echoes across time and space, into our lives, our communities, even our nation. The healing of our emotional and spiritual lives isn’t always easy; it asks us to let go of what is familiar and step into something new. As we prepare for a moment of chang...

The Bible is filled with stories of building projects. Noah was commissioned by God to build a great boat to house a remnant of the original creation. It was a boat big enough to hold “a true sample” of the human family. It was a floating zoo that also housed all God’s creatures two-by-two. But did you know there’s a second ark story when the Jews built a box vessel to accompany the traveling tabe...

Behind the scriptures today (if you listen closely) you can hear the faint sound of sheep bleating. The psalmist certainly hears it. Jesus hears it too and you can’t begin to imagine how powerful the images of sheep and shepherd are with us today. But most of what we’ve come to know about sheep is unflattering to say the least. How do you regard them? Some say they’re dumb, likely to get lost or k...

Maybe you’ve vaguely known this story but you couldn’t pick Ananias out of a biblical lineup of characters. That’s a shame because Ananias deserves our consideration. The role Ananias plays may be overshadowed, but he is to be commended for acting in obedience to his own calling. In spite of his massive fear, he took a chance and obeyed God. When he met Saul face-to-face, he greeted him as “Brothe...

Easter is a day ironically almost beyond belief. Even those who sit week after week have a difficulty in believing every claim made about Easter. Let’s admit it, the resurrection is a lot for us moderns to accept without some struggle of belief. But not everyone struggles equally. Professor Tom Long tells the story he heard from one of his friends about the man’s little son who was a great fan of...

Palm Sunday is a special time in the life of the Colonial Church community. It commemorates the beginning of Holy Week, and with scripture readings, palm waving, and music, we remember the events leading to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. After the palm parade, we will transition to the passion of Christ. Dr. Molly T. Marshall, President of United Theological Seminary in the Twin Cities, will be...

This story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet is absolutely compelling as we think about our gifts to God. There are times when a gift transcends the pragmatism of need and becomes our gift to God as a sign of our awareness that God has given extravagantly and we feel a need to offer something extravagant because we realize small gifts aren’t enough. “Give until it feels good,” we say to one another. S...

Jesus wanted a strong metaphor for the reality of being separated from God. He also wanted an equally strong metaphor that described the extent of God’s love. And so he told a simple but honest story about families as a way to describe our relationship with the Creator God: “A man had two sons …” The experience of being lost can be complex and profound or it can be quite simple. It can be as simpl...

In our better moments, whenever tragic events happen, we are so moved by them we naturally ask the question, “Why?” “Why did this happen?” “How can things like this happen in our world?” Eventually, we grapple with the question of meaning. We are a meaning-making people with a strong need to understand the tragic events that occur in the world. Morris West, the Catholic novelist, wrote in The Clow...

This Sunday we have the opportunity to welcome Hazel Krebs to Colonial Church. Hazel is an author, speaker, and advocate whose journey has been one of resilience, authenticity, and deep hope. Her story reminds us of the power of embracing who we truly are and living with courage. This is a special event you won’t want to miss. Join us as Hazel shares her journey with vulnerability and joy, invitin...

Jesus headed for the wilderness in order to be alone. He did this to deny himself of what he had in abundance in order to discover just how much he had in reserve. This is a stark image of one who was on a journey. Jesus followed the voice that beckoned him to the wilderness where there were no comforts and no amenities to make life easier. I suppose all of us have heard the siren’s call at one ti...

The story of the transfiguration is a mystic’s story and we readily admit it tugs at us because of our flatlander’s perspective. Samuel Terrien called this moment “a beholding of God.” “In that moment” he observed, “one is there not to speak but to listen.” We need moments like the transfiguration. We live starved lives hungering and thirsting for the numinous divine to come along. Transcendence h...

After several generations of captivity in Babylon, the tone of Isaiah’s prophecies shifted dramatically. The sun is just breaking forth where there has only been sad darkness; where there’s only been doom and condemnation, there is hope and beauty. The poetry this part of the Bible is the most sublime in all Hebrew literature. Today’s text is the startling offer of gracious hospitality. God’s love...

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany This Sunday, we’ll hear Jesus’ words from Luke 6:17-26—the Beatitudes as told in the Gospel of Luke. Unlike Matthew’s version, which speaks of being "poor in spirit," Luke’s account is raw and direct: Blessed are the poor. Blessed are the hungry. Blessed are those who weep. It’s a message that doesn’t just offer comfort—it calls us into action. Jesus doesn’t just acknow...

There’s an old saying, “Life is what happens while you’re making other plans.” That sense of direction helps us define who we are. But things happen ... Sometimes the interruption comes from within ... a growing sense of dissatisfaction even though everything seems okay on the surface. Joseph Campbell once observed: “Sometimes people climb the ladder of success only to discover the ladder is leani...

The prophet Jeremiah heard the word of God when he was somewhere between a teenager and a young man. In our time we might say, “He’s old enough to drive. He’s old enough to vote. He’s old enough to die in battle … but he’s not old enough to drink.” Where do you draw those lines? Jeremiah pleaded, “I am only a boy." For a God who called a young tweenage girl named Mary to be the mother of Jesus, ca...

Leaving home can be tricky business. It can be a harmonious and natural event that recognizes a child has done the business of growing into adulthood and his or her leaving can then be rightly celebrated. Or, it can be fraught with all kinds of complications. Words can be flung at one another like well-aimed spears of animosity and venom. Stressed out parents and hotheaded kids sometimes part ways...

This Sunday, we’ll explore the story of the wedding at Cana and how Jesus transforms anxiety into abundance. In a time of uncertainty—both in our world and within our own community—we’ll reflect on how God’s grace can move us from worry to wonder. Come to worship, hear a meaningful reflection, sing songs, and be reminded that even in anxious times, we are held by a love that overflows. Remember th...

Isaiah 55:12 in The Message translation of Scripture says “So you’ll go out in joy, you’ll be led into a whole and complete life.” After the joy (and yes, the stress!) of Christmas how do we hold onto joy and laughter in our lives in order to experience God’s vision for life? We’re going to find some joy and laughter on Sunday because this is how we can maintain hope in light of the darkness that...

There’s an old photograph of Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker Movement. She’s almost 70 years old in the picture and is sitting down because she is tired from a long day’s march with Cesar Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers. As she looks up at a circle of policemen standing around her, hands on their holsters, her calm face shows no fear. Despite the threat of violence f...

As we enter the third week of Advent, we turn our attention to joy—a theme that can feel elusive in a season filled with both celebration and challenges. How do we embrace joy when life feels heavy? This Sunday, we’ll explore how joy is not simply a feeling but a practice rooted in community, service, and God’s abiding presence. As we continue to hear a story of anticipation through the life and a...

the manger scene when John the Baptizer jumps out and scares the bejeebers out of us. When it comes to John the Baptizer, no doubt we think of the Judean wilderness and the wild and untamed personality living in a place so stark one is hard pressed to call it sustainable. John was an outlier warning people to get themselves ready for “the One who was coming.” Jesus and John were the sun and moon t...

There are two faces of expectation on this first Sunday of Advent. The first is a look to the past, a way of seeing backward in time to when a savior was hoped for. Advent also looks to the future in an attitude of expectancy over what God has yet to do in history. It’s Advent’s face toward the past we usually seek. Four Sundays are set aside for the expectation of Christ’s birth and we have a won...