Trivium

2011-08-03T15:47:00.001-04:00

Connecting to God in West VirginiaI grew up in a small country church in Delaplane, Virginia, about an hour west of DC. As a youth, I attended many mission trips, and an adult from the church always volunteered to take us on these spiritually refilling and physically empowering trips. I learned this past spring that the church wanted to send five teens on a Group Workcamps mission trip to Webster

On the Ringing of A Bell

2011-07-18T14:17:00.004-04:00

Has the ringing of a bell ever taken you by surprise? Our twenty-first century sentiments are not accustomed to bells ringing – at least not large, forged “grand” bells such as those that once graced city halls, schools, and church towers. Certainly we are familiar with electronic “bells” and whistles and whizzes and whirzzes barking intrusively from the throats of electronic devices. Sadly, the

In the Beginning . . .

2011-04-23T18:49:00.004-04:00

John 1:1-18In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man sent from God,

Body dead to Sin Through the Spirit

2011-04-23T11:37:00.002-04:00

Romans 8:1-11 (NRSV)1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned

2011-04-20T20:21:00.001-04:00

John 17:20-26 (NRSV) 20[Jesus looked toward heaven and said,] “My prayer is not for [my disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be

Father Save Me From this Hour?

2011-04-20T09:48:00.001-04:00

John 12:27-36 (NRSV)27 "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save mefrom this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.28 Father, glorify your name!"Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and will glorifyit again." 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it hadthundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.30 Jesus said, "This voice was

Dying Grain Bears Fruit

2011-04-20T08:56:00.004-04:00

John 12:20-26 (NRSV)Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’ Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls

Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem

2011-04-18T10:23:00.003-04:00

John 12:9-19 (NRSV)9 When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem12 The next day the

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

2011-04-18T09:01:00.004-04:00

Matthew 21:12-17 12Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves. 13He said to them, ‘It is written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer”; but you are making it a den of robbers.’ 14The blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he cured them. 15But

Jesus the Good Shepherd

2011-04-13T13:09:00.002-04:00

john 10: 1-18 10‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the

Lenten reflection April 10: Joyful Suffering

2011-04-11T08:53:00.010-04:00

Mark 8:31-9:1 Mark 8 31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind

True Bread

2011-04-03T14:25:00.010-04:00

John 6:27-4027Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ 28Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ 29Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ 30So they said to him, ‘What sign are

Pharisees press Jesus for a sign from heaven

2011-04-03T14:21:00.000-04:00

Mark 8:11-21The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him. And he signed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation." And he left them, and getting into the boat again, he went across to the other side.Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread;

"Where is your Father?"

2011-03-30T14:39:00.006-04:00

John 8:12-20 12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 The Pharisees challenged him, “Here you are, appearing as your own witness; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid, for I know where I came from and

Pools of Beth-zatha

2011-03-24T09:18:00.004-04:00

John 5:1-181After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. 3In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralysed. 5One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said

A seed on good soil

2011-03-19T12:25:00.006-04:00