Title: Freedom for what? Date: February 14, 2010 (St. Valentine’s Day) Texts: 2 Cor 3:12-4:2; Lk 9:28-36 Author: Isaac S. Villegas “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17)—that’s what Paul says in our passage from Second Corinthians. Freedom. What does it mean to be free? I want to give […]
Dirty pockets, lint balls, and love
Title: Dirty Pockets, Lint Balls, and Love Text: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Date: February 7, 2010 Author: Meghan Florian I work part time as a Wedding Assistant at Duke Chapel, so most Saturday afternoons find me alternately scurrying around the chapel in uncomfortable shoes, or sitting in the back pew and listening to as many as […]
Mary Raber, Jan 2010
Our congregation financially supports Mary Raber’s work in the Ukraine. She is there with Mennonite Mission Network. Below is her recent letter. Read it to learn about her work and find out how to support her with our prayers as well. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
The weakest member
Title: The weaker members Text: I Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21 Date: January 24, 2010 Author: Isaac S. Villegas “The members of the body that seem to be weaker are necessary” (I Cor. 12:22). That’s what Paul says in our passage from I Corinthians—Ben mentioned this verse in his sermon last Sunday, and I’ve been thinking […]
A material Spirit
Title: A material Spirit Date: Jan 10, 2010 Texts: Acts 8:14-17 Author: Isaac S. Villegas “They can beg and they can plead / But they can’t see the light, that’s right / ‘Cause the boy with the cold hard cash / Is always Mister Right, ‘cause we are / Living in a material world / […]
A Faithful Remnant
Title: A faithful remnant; or, On being part of a faithful remnant when your girlfriend insists upon packing heat. Texts: Jeremiah 31:7-14 Date: January 3, 2010 Author: Chris Gooding Prayer: O LORD of hosts, we recognize that we have often not been very good at explaining your work among your people, Israel. Help us to […]
Christmas meditations
Title: Christmas meditations Date: Dec 27, 2009 Texts: Lk 2:1-20, 2 Cor 5:17-21 Author: Isaac Villegas First Meditation (Lk 2:1-14): “News is power” Knowledge is power. News is power. I think it was in the Economist that I read about how financial firms pay a lot for cutting edge communication technologies. The firm that gets […]
Untitled 1
Title: Untitled 1 Texts: Micah 5:2-5; Luke 1:39-55; Hebrews 10:5-10 Date: December 20, 2009 (Advent) Author: Matt A couple of weeks ago Celia preached on advent and the expectation that comes along with waiting. She likened waiting to pregnancy – 9 months of hopes and expectations building and building, climaxing in the arrival of new […]
Deconstruction
Title: Deconstruction Texts: Phil 4:4-7, Lk 3:7-18 Date: Dec 13, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas The people come out to John to be baptized. But apparently John never learned how to be nice, how to be open and kind and polite and say excuse me before leaving the table and thank you and please, and how […]
An advent reorienting
Title: An Advent Reorienting Texts: Luke 1:68-79; Luke 3:1-6 Date: Dec 6, 2009 Author: Monica Schmucker As you looked at your bulletin and listened to the Scripture passages, you probably noticed that the lectionary has done something peculiar this week: the Psalm passage is replaced by a psalm of sorts from the New Testament. This […]
Christ our king
Title: Christ our King Texts: Dan 7:9-10, 13-14; Rev 1:4b-8; Jn 18:33:37 Date: Nov 22, 2009 Before I get started, let me say something about where we stand today in the church calendar. We stand at the edge of Advent. Next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent. And during Advent we wait with Mary […]
Companions
Worship is how God offers to be our companion through the Holy Spirit who weaves our lives into a “knot of unity,” as Augustine of Hippo once wrote. In this meditation below, you can find a description of how God befriends us through an ordinary church service. Here is an excerpt: Worship that evening choreographed […]
At home
Title: A body at home Texts: Dan 12:1-4; Ps 16; Heb 10:19-25; Mk 13:1-8 Date: Nov 15, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas Jesus stands outside the towering temple in Jerusalem—at its highest point, the walls probably reached up to 175 feet high. You can see the building from miles away, dwarfing all the other structures in […]
Leftover grain, Leftover people
Title: Leftover grain, Leftover people Texts: Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Mark 12:38-44 Date: Nov 8, 2009 Author: Thomas Lehman Our passages from Ruth and from Mark could hardly be more different as literature. After a first reading of the material from Ruth one could ask whether it belongs in the Bible. In contrast, Mark is familiar […]
Jesus wept
Title: Jesus wept Date: Nov. 1, 2009 Texts: Wis. of Sol. 3:1-9, Rev. 21:1-6a, Jn. 11:32-44 Author: Isaac Villegas Jen has been writing online about her life with her child Martin who is autistic. Jen was one of the founding members of our church. She and her husband were here from the beginning, but now […]
Please pray with me
Title: Please Pray With Me Texts: Job 42:1-9, Hebrews 7:23-28 Date: October 25, 2009 Author: Dave Nickel Jane’s Story: It’s a Friday afternoon in late August. Jane has just finished mowing the lawn at her two acres in “the county.” Her mobile home shines in the bright North Carolina sunshine. As she surveys the surroundings, […]
A baby’s slave
Title: A Baby’s Slave Text: Mk. 10:35-45 Date: Oct 18, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas The sons of Zebedee, James and John, come up to Jesus and tell him what they want: they say, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory” (Mk. 10:38). It’s a bold […]
Priesthood of all believers
Title: The Priesthood of All Believers Date: Oct 11, 2009 Text: Hebrews 4:12-16 Author: Chris Gooding Two weeks ago, Jews around the world celebrated Yom Kippur for the year 5770. Since I’ve been trying to learn more about Jewish liturgy in order to aid in interpretation of the Old Testament (and to further inter-religious dialogue […]
letter from Mary Raber (Oct, 2009)
Our congregation financially supports Mary Raber’s work in the Ukraine. She is there with Mennonite Mission Network. Below is her recent letter. Read it to learn about her work and find out how to support her with our prayers as well. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – […]
Broken visions
Title: Broken visions Texts: Heb 1:1-4, 2:5-12; Ps 26; Job 1:1, 2:1-10 Date: Oct 4, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas How to go on when our world gets turned upside down? How to make sense of our life when everything collapses? How to put one foot in front of the other when nothing makes sense anymore? […]
For such a time as this…
Title: For such a time as this… Date: Sept 27, 2009 Text: Esther 7 Author: Catherine Lee Tonight we are looking at the story of Esther. We’re not going to do justice to the whole story. If you hear nothing else, hear my suggestion that you go home and give it a read yourselves this […]
Tongues of fire
Title: Tongues of Fire Date: September 13, 2009 Texts: James 3:1-12 Author: Isaac Villegas “The tongue is set on fire by hell” (James 3:6). That’s what James says. Are we really to believe that our words have so much power, the power of hell’s fire? I know that words can hurt sometimes, but it seems […]
Desperate
Title: Desperate Texts: Mark 7:24-37 Date: Sept 6, 2009 Author: Isaac Villegas Jesus wants to keep a low profile in Tyre. He’s in Gentile country, far away from the Jewish masses that flock to him wherever he goes. A woman comes to him. She’s desperate. Her daughter needs to be set free from an unclean […]
Come away
Title: “Come away” Date: August 30, 2009 Text: Song of Songs 2:8-13 Author: Isaac Villegas Our passage from the Song of Songs is an excerpt of a love poem. That simple fact is important. Our bible, this book that is central to our faith, is full of poems. The bible isn’t a book full of […]