Our sermon today was about the Great Commission in Matthew 28.
When it comes to faith, we don’t often tell people about the Gospel. We let doubt, fear, insecurity, and other reasons keep us from spreading it. But even if we have doubts, our faith is still here!
In Matthew 17:14-16 we read of a man who brought his son to the Savior, asking Him to heal his son. He says that he first brought him to Jesus’ disciples, but they were unable to heal him. What’s interesting about this story is that when Jesus’ disciples failed to heal him, the boy’s father still believed that Jesus Himself could heal him. It made me think of the fact that church leaders, well-intentioned though they may be, are imperfect mortal beings. They will inevitably make mistakes. But when we are disappointed by church leaders, instead of growing bitter and turning away from the Gospel, we can instead turn towards Christ, the ultimate and unfailing source of healing.
This week our sermon was on Jesus post-resurrection, where He appeared to His disciples, including Thomas, who had to feel His wounds before he would believe. The pastor emphasized an interesting detail: Why did Jesus’ wounds exist in His resurrected body? Because His past is part of Him, and He was glorified and perfected all the same. Our resurrected selves are truly us, and yet perfect and one with God.
Whenever a month has 5 Sundays instead of 4, our church does a “Scripture and Song” service where the pastors dress casually. People attending the service can come up front and say what they’re grateful for lately. 
This week’s service talked about how the church is not just any one of us. Whenever two or more are gathered, and whatnot. A single brick is not anything particularly special, but when we are put together in a specific, holy way, we can become something truly great!
The priest also emphasized that Jesus said that He had much more to tell, but that His followers weren’t ready yet. And how this means that God did not go silent as soon as Christ ascended, but rather, we’re still hearing from Him. The church at its establishment was not in its perfect form, but had more still to learn, as it will continue to do so until Christ returns again.
Our sermon today was about not feeling ashamed of the Gospel. I honestly…struggle with this, because so many atrocities have been committed in the name of God, and not very many people want to hear “believe in Jesus or you’re going to Hell”. 
I think it’s good to be reminded, though! That their actions are not the Gospel, and that we should be ashamed of what they do (and any role we may have had in it), not the Gospel itself.
Today’s service was about the Holy Spirit! Jesus’ ministry on Earth would have to come to an end, but He left with us the Spirit so that God’s mission on Earth would not end with His death, resurrection, and ascension.
Happy Pentecost! Our reading of Acts chapter 2 today was in several languages!
The sermon was about the Breath of Life; the pastor’s yoga teacher reminds her “Don’t forget to breathe!”
The pastor later reminded us that 3 years ago, cops took away George Floyd’s life by taking away his breath… Just as that killing launched a worldwide social justice movement, so too did Pentecost enable people to spread the Gospel in every language.
This week’s service for Pentecost is about how with the Holy Spirit, we are the Church. We can live God’s love and through that, church is not just something that pastors bring to us, but something we become!
It was late this week because I had to work yesterday! D:
But this week our service involved quite a few Bible verses about how God does not want sacrifice, but rather mercy (Hosea 6, Matthew 9). The pastor also preached about how God puts us where we’re needed, and sometimes it’s not always clear why until we listen to Him. But when we do this, we can find the greater purpose of what we’ve done.
Today’s sermon was about how being with God is beyond even family ties, how sometimes family members will be against each other, and how Jesus came to bring “a sword.” This was a reminder of how being a Christian means struggling with tricky passages. The priest connected this to LGBT+ people, who have historically (and presently) been hated by people in the name of God. He grew up being told, in Sunday school at that, that God hates gay people (their words, per the priest). But this is putting family against family, using God as their reason. But the priest says the sword He brings is not literally a weapon of killing, but rather, the confidence that they are loved, to protect them against the division and exclusion of the world.
This week’s sermon (my work schedule has been crazy, but hey, I got around to watching the stream before next Sunday, so that’s a win!) was about how Jesus asks us to take the yoke up with Him. It is not just a call to action, or a call to obedience. Part of yoking oxen is to allow two oxen of different speeds to work as a team. When you’re yoked to another ox, they’re helping you share your burdens. Jesus is inviting us not just to follow Him, but also to rely on Him. We should not be too prideful to ask or help. Someone who “has it all figured out” isn’t going to have the humility to accept Him and truly rely on Him. But when we allow Him to help us, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
The yoke analogy is also used to warn us to not be “unequally yoked.” Often people use that to suggest people should only marry people similar to them, but our priest wanted to emphasize that this is a commandment to not act independent; we need to rely on each other. Not just give and give and give until there’s nothing left. Not just take and take and drain other people’s efforts and goodwill. But work together as a team, yoked equally, working toward our common good.
If anyone doesn’t have a church to go to, one thing that can help is simply to view an online stream from your area each Sunday morning so you can “try it before you buy it.” No commitment, just seeing what the church is like. If you find one you like, then success! Try to go every week when you can. If you don’t, then just try a different one next week!
For this week for me, our priest had an interesting take on one of Jesus’ sermons on the sowing of wheat!
Jesus put before the crowd another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and
sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain,
then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him,
‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He
answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and
gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along
with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the
reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into
my barn.’”
Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” He answered, “The one who sows the good
seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
the weeds are the children of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the
harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels.
Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The
Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all
evildoers, and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let
anyone with ears listen!”
This is often used as a fear-mongering approach, but our priest emphasized that this is entirely about what God will do, not what we should. The sower will address evil in the world in the end. We will have our reward, but it’s not our job to decide who is “wheat” and who is “weed.” We should address evil and injustice, but judgment is not ours. It’s hard to tell wheat from a certain type of weed until the wheat gets a chance to prosper (and the weed, then, doesn’t). So we do good in the world right now, and don’t write anyone off. Only God will truly know one’s heart in the end. Even the most wicked of people can turn around eventually.
Today was the Transfiguration Sunday! Our service was about when Jesus went up on the mountain with Peter, John, and James, where Jesus started to glow and was accompanied by the long-dead Moses and Elijah, and God said “this is my Son; listen to Him.”
28About eight days after Jesus had said these things, He took with Him Peter, John, and James, and went up on a mountain to pray. 29And as He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, and His clothes became radiantly white. 30Suddenly two men, Moses and Elijah, began talking with Jesus. 31They appeared in glory and spoke about His departure, which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32Meanwhile Peter and his companions were overcome by sleep, but when they awoke, they saw Jesus’ glory and the two men standing with Him. 33As Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three sheltersc—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what he was saying.)
34While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. 35And a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is My Son, whom I have chosen.d Listen to Him!”
36After the voice had spoken, only Jesus was present with them. The disciples kept this to themselves, and in those days they did not tell anyone what they had seen.
As an aside, I always thought it was adorable how much Peter took this in stride. “Oh hey Jesus, you brought Moses and Elijah, let’s make tents for them too!” Like imagine you invite your friend over and they show up with Ludwig van Beethoven and Babe Ruth and you’re just like “oh hey, let me make two extra cups of tea for them too!” Not “holy crap,” just accepting it. “Yep, this is just a thing that happens, I’ve stopped really asking questions at this point.”
The pastor emphasizes this point: Peter didn’t question, but rather recognized the mystery of God. Not all answers are going to be there. We can’t know everything. But in the mystery and uncertainty is the presence of God: The cloud that spoke didn’t obscure the truth. The cloud was the truth. Our questions and doubts are part of the faith journey, but we need to recognize that the journey does not have a “destination” of defeating all of our questions and finding all the answers. At least not until we’re together with God for eternity.
Anyone try out any churches? I can’t be the only one who goes! No commitment needed to just go to one service or even stream it!
This week’s was about Jesus walking on water and beckoning Peter to join. Peter started to walk, but sunk a little until Jesus pulled him up. The common interpretation is that Peter lacked faith and Jesus chastised him for that, but the priest offered another interpretation. Jesus didn’t ask Peter to walk on water. Peter saw Jesus walking on water and he asked Jesus, and Jesus said “Okay, sure.” And it didn’t work, at least not alone. Peter was unable to walk on water alone, but he could with the help of Jesus. This serves as a reminder that we should never assume to be able to do things on our own. Sometimes we need the help of others, and always, we need the help of God.
This is my 8th post in a row in here. 
This isn’t my blog, this is a community thing!
Today’s sermon was about Jesus rebuking Peter when he pushed back against Him for saying He was going to die. Peter heard something uncomfortable and disagreeable, and his immediate response was to speak out and push back against it, without even hearing Jesus out. But that’s not how we should handle things that don’t make sense to us; we should try to understand that God is in that person, and perhaps there’s more we don’t understand. We should know why people feel the way they do, and see the child of God in them. That doesn’t mean we have to agree with them, or let them do whatever they want if they intend to hurt people. But by trying to see people’s perspectives when we disagree helps us to avoid dehumanizing them, and also, in the chance that we are wrong, it allows us to look inward and consider that.
Honestly been quite a while since I watched any church services but I’m watching right now! The sermon series was about “seeing ourselves as a disciple of Jesus.”
Today’s sermon focused on Matthew, who is well regarded as having written the Gospel of Matthew. Although he was Jewish, he wrote in Greek. Being a tax collector, he mentions money a lot more than the other 3 writers. He also uses the words “debts” and “debtors” in the Lord’s Prayer where Luke uses “sins.”
He worked for the Roman government that invaded and oppressed his people. A system that created this system of greedy profit-making. Who knows what propaganda he had to buy into to justify working in this profession?
The Pharisees didn’t want people like Matthew defiling them. They lived off being holier-than-thou. People like them today are, for example, calling the church and asking them to do something about unhoused people living at the bus stop in front of it. Just recently, some anonymous people grafftitied anti-Semitic symbols and messages on the property! We are grappling with what it means to serve a population with challenging and diverse needs.
As the Gospel reminds us, we see the harmful, terrifying effects of separating “us and them.” But Jesus didn’t see people in such categories; He asked a “sinner” like Matthew to follow him! He called people who knew they weren’t their own saviors! And what happened next? He followed Matthew to his own community and sat at his table—the very people who the Pharisees separated themselves from!
In the midst of atrocities that people who call themselves Christians commit, look to Jesus Himself. He doesn’t write anyone off. He calls people wherever they are.
The word Greek word translated as “repent” in English is metanoia, changing one’s mind. Discipleship is about changing our minds and seeing ourselves at the table, sharing our stories and blessings with the world.
Amen.
Today’s my first time attending a Sunday worship service in person in over 3 years!
The sermon was part of a fall “It is well” series, and focused on wellness within our hearts. It started with a reading from Micah 6:1-8.
[1] Hear what the Lord says: Rise, plead your case before the mountains, and let the hills hear your voice. [2] Hear, you mountains, the case of the Lord, and you enduring foundations of the earth, for the Lord has a case against his people, and he will contend with Israel. [3] “O my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me! [4] For I brought you up from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. [5] O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised, what Balaam son of Beor answered him, and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.” [6] “With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? [7] Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” [8] He has told you, O mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?
It was a dark time to be God’s people and reading the OT prophets often feels like a lot of doom and gloom. The news in our present day is often full of it too. We wish we could pass through life without feeling pain or heartbreak; it’s very hard to take platitudes like “Everything happens for a reason” to heart.
But God created our hearts to sense and feel, and when they’re broken, they’re open to justice and mercy. Being well means letting our hearts be vulnerable and to be open for compassion and mercy. God wants you to feel and be moved, to remind you that you’re not alone.
This week the sermon was about how we are expected to be ready when God calls us. We never know when we will be called to do His will. People tend to focus on the scary part of the parable of the wedding feast where the king invited everyone and threw out someone who wasn’t dressed for it, but it’s missing the point. When God needs us, will we be ready? We can’t just decide when God needs us to help someone in need, or share the Gospel.
This week’s service was about the Great Commandments: Love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. The priest emphasized that we are commanded to do this now. Not once we solve problems in the world. Not once wars end. Not once we iron out complicated theological disagreements. We need to love one another now.