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There is method to Matthew's madness in telling the story of Jesus! In Matthew 3 we read about the baptism of Jesus. Through his baptism Jesus is identified as the one who will be the Savior of the world. In Matthew 4 Jesus is tempted by Satan to abandon his call and sell out to dependence on his own power and privilege. "Denied!" Je...

Our Gospel Lesson for this Sunday, January 15, 2023, is John 1:29-42.  This is John's version of the baptism of Jesus and it is quite different than the one I preached on last Sunday, Matthew 3:13-17. What is the same, though, is that the story focuses on proclamation of who Jesus is as opposed to Jesus' personal experience of being claimed by...

This coming Sunday, January 8, is the "Baptism of our Lord" Sunday. My question, "Why be baptized?" certainly is a personal, contemporary question. People - like you and me - get baptized for many different reasons. For some it is a family, cultural thing. For others is a "rite of joining" a church thing. In theory it's suppose to be a commitm...

It's complicated, as politics often are. Israel fell into civil war after the death of King Solomon, dividing the country into two nations. A couple hundred years later the 'Northern Kingdom' was being attacked by the Assyrians, so they made a defense pact with Syria. Together Syria and the Northern Kingdom wanted to set up a pu...

Welcome to Advent, a season of four Sundays before Christmas. Historically Advent has been considered a time of quiet, prayerful preparation for the coming of our Lord. In reality our 'Black Friday,' 'Giving Tuesday,' 'Grateful Thursday' and on and on doesn't allow this to happen unless we work at it - but we try. This year Pr. Tom and I have ...