Prince of Peace

In today's gospel, Jesus sends his disciples out to the world to spread the word of God. Michael Dakoske shares that the D-Tour (the yourth Discipleship Tour) to Baltimore has taught him what Discipleship means today: Service to others and making personal connections with people. He and the rest of the your learned that the biggest impact was seeing the results of those connections firsthand. Hann...

In today's gospel, Jesus tells the parable of weeds being sown among the wheat. He explains that the wheat is the children of the kingdom, and the weeds are the children of the evil one. Today, Hannah explains that, just as the the workers in the parable were told to let the reaper sort the weeds out at harvest, we should not worry about removing the bad from this world, but instead concentrate on...

Today's gospel tells the parable of the sower, where some seed falls on the path, some falls on rocky soil, and some falls on good earth. Pastor Donner reminds us that the sower is really God. We might think that some of the seed might be wasted, in the same way we might think that good works we do may be wasted on those who might take it for granted. God wants us to scatter those seeds of good wo...

In today's world, we all feel like our burdens are heavy and sometimes unmanageable. Jesus invites us today to take up his yoke instead, because "my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." This morning, Pastor Michelle reminds us that a yoke was a means by which 2 animals shared a burden, making the load easier to bear. In the same way, sharing our burdens with Jesus makes them much lighter.

In today's gospel, Jesus tells his followers that any kindness they show to others is the same as showing kindness to him, even as small as a cup of cold water. In her first sermon with us, Pastor Michelle explains that what Jesus really is say to us is "Be Generous." We can find al sorts of reasons not to, like "what if I don't have enough," or "I don't have time," but even the smallest act of ki...

Last week's gospel was Jesus telling his disciples that they were to go spread the good news. Today, he continues preparing the disciples, but he makes sure they know how challenging it can be to follow him. Indeed, Jesus has flipped the expectations of the world: "the last will be first and the first will be last." Such ideas challenged society back in Jesus time, and continue to do so today. But...

In today's gospel, Jesus knows that the amount of ministry and healing that needs to be done is too much for one man, and so he charges his disciples to help spread the good news. Seminarian Melinda Moran brings us to the present day, showing us how we can be the eyes, hands and feet of Jesus. She leaves us with this question: When Jesus call us, will we answer 'Yes?'

In today's gospel, Jesus says "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick." Our guest pastor, Steve Brown, explains, with illustrations and assistance from members of the congregation, explains what this means. All of us are in need of Jesus and his grace.

This morning, our guest pastor Steve Brown explains why the Holy Trinity can be confusing, but is an important part of our faith

This morning's gospel lesson is the story of the Holy Spirit alighting on the Disciples after Jesus ascension. Hannah tells us this morning how she learned that the Spirit has granted each of us different gifts. All gifts are ministry gifts, it may just take some time to figure out how they fit into the work of God. How are you using your gifts?

In this morning's gospel, Jesus prays that his disciples "may be one, as we are one." Pastor Jonathan, in his final sermon before leaving on sabbatical, prays the same for us: that God grants us the strength through community to show the world that love and life win.

The Holy Spirit is how we listen to where we are being called to by God. Sometimes following the Spirit's direction is easy...but sometimes it's not as easy. Sometimes you may be called in a different direction. Sometimes you have to rely on the Holy Spirit to help you along on your weak, wobbly legs.

This morning, Pastor Jonathan reflects on the story of Stephen, the first martyr of the gospel. What would he have thought, not knowing where Christianity was going, but knowing that it was transformational. Of that story, biblical scholar Angela Parker notes that "truth ... is a realization of a dream..." and wonders if Jesus, as truth, represents the dream and hope of God.

This morning, Pastor Jonathan reflects on the concept of 'Enough.' The world would have us believe that we need to grab and hoard things because there is peril around every corner. However, God tells us that around every corner He provides abundance and life. Lie a river, we cannot see around the bend, but we know there is beauty and life.

Today's gospel tells the story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus. In that story, the disciples recognize Jesus only after they have broken bread with him. Pastor Jonathan tells us that the geography of the region makes this story problematic, but perhaps it it really an illustration of the early church. The disciples were gathered to a meal with Jesus, and later went out to bee the good news...

Author and poet Shel Silverstein wrote about the "whatifs" - creatures that whisper into your ear to cast doubt. This morning, Hannah tells us that Thomas was likely visited but these creatures - "Whatif someone stole Jesus' body? Or whatif the story Mary told is true?" Doubt is a normal and forgivable human trait, and if we have doubt, we are still a child of God. Jesus came back for Thomas to di...

Pastor Jonathan's Easter message

This week, Pastor Jonathan talks about the last part of prayer that has been the subject of this year's Lenten journey. We have a tendency to think of gifts as part of a transaction, and we wonder if we've done enough in return. But God never intended for his love to be an exchange, but an unconditional gift. In Jesus, God shows that he doesn't want something FROM us, but he wants something FOR us...

Today's old testament lesson tells the story of God calling Samuel, even though Samuel didn't recognize it and thought it was Eli calling. Hannah shares with us that the voice of God does not always sound like thunder, but more often like quiet whispers and nudges in the direction we should go. Saying 'yes' to God may take us to places we would not normally go, doing things that we would not norma...

In today's gospel lesson, Jesus tells his disciples to ".. take courage, I have conquered the world." Pastor Jonathan shares that as he was studying the lesson this week, he came across a prayer that talks about "good courage." Unlike the courage that allows people to do questionable things in the name of thrill-seeking or power, "good courage" founded in Jesus' love gives us the courage to seek a...

Sometimes life takes us on journeys where we don't really know where we're going or how it will turn out. Today's gospel, in which Jesus was tempted, like the old testament account of the Israelites wandering the desert, are good examples to learn from. The Israelites spent 40 years in the desert because they didn't always trust God's direction. By contrast, Jesus listened to his father and knew w...

Today's gospel lesson is known as "The Farewell Discourse," in which Jesus prepared his disciples for the time after his ministry. At the end, Jesus tells them "Do not be afraid." Pastor Lorne shares that many times of transition in his life have been times of high stress, including now as he leaves us to go to Good Shepherd. In all of these times, he has been comforted by the constant of God's lo...

Today's gospel recounts the Transfiguration on mount Tabor, after which Peter exclaims "Lord, it is good for us to be here." Pastor Lorne explains that Peter, by wanting to build shrines for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah, wants to remain on the mountaintop where things are good and comfortable. God has other ideas for the disciples (both then and now) and says "This is my son... listen to him." And Jes...

In today's lessons, Paul compares our faith to a garden. Hannah explains that God plants seeds in our 'soul fields,' seeds of love, forgiveness, and grace, and that tending those seeds helps the world to be a better place. As humans, we can also plant seeds of anger, which cause division in the world. But God gives us good seeds and good growth. Which seeds will you tend?

In today's gospel, the continuation of The Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells his disciples "You are the light of the World." Pastor Lorne this morning reinforces that with a story from his time prior to Prince of Peace, where he was visited by a man who was called all kinds of names in his own neighborhood. Despite that, he knew that his mission and identity was as the light of the world.