by Shelly | Oct 20, 2023 | Sermons
God wants our whole lives, including wallets! In today’s first reading God uses the Gentile ruler Cyrus to accomplish divine purposes. When the Pharisees try to trap Jesus, he tells them to give the emperor what belongs to him and to God what belongs to God. To gather...
by Shelly | Oct 12, 2023 | Sermons
Amidst hardship God’s generosity abounds In Isaiah we are given a vision of the great feast to come, when God will wipe away death forever. In Jesus’ parable about a great banquet, those invited do not come, so the invitation is extended to others. In our...
by Shelly | Oct 5, 2023 | Sermons
Respecting the Heir of the Vinyard In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells a vineyard parable, which serves as an image of Israel, the prophets’ mission, and Christ’s death. For Christians, the vineyard also speaks of God’s love poured out in the blood of Christ, given...
by Shelly | Sep 28, 2023 | Sermons
Work in God’s Vinyard Jesus’ parable about two sons who don’t do what they say reveals surprises in the reign of God. In the reading from Ezekiel the people claim the ways of the Lord are unfair, while God offers repentance and new life. Paul urges us to look to...
by Shelly | Sep 21, 2023 | Sermons
How God shares abundance perplexes human understanding Matthew narrates one of Jesus’ controversial parables in which Jesus says that the reign of God is like that of a landowner who pays his workers the same wage no matter what time of day they began to work. When...
