Tag Archives: Church

Pentecost 20 C: Welcome to the Church’s Golden Age!

The readings for the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost are Old Testament & Psalm, Option I Old Testament      Joel 2:23–32 Psalm                    Psalm 65 or Old Testament & Psalm, Option II Old Testament      Sirach 35:12–17 or Jeremiah 14:7–10, 19–22 … Continue reading

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Pentecost 16 C: The Group Mind of the Church

Instead of my normal practice of reflecting on one or more readings from the Revised Common Lectionary, this week, and since we will be welcoming new members to St. Luke Lutheran Church in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, I have chosen to … Continue reading

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Christmas 1C: All That and More

The Readings for the First Sunday of Christmas are Old Testament      1 Samuel 2:18–20, 26 Psalm                    Psalm 148 New Testament     Colossians 3:12–17 Gospel                   Luke 2:41–52 The Gospel lesson for the first Sunday after Christmas takes us … Continue reading

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Pentecost 8B: Tucker Carlson, Vaccines, and the Gathering God

The readings for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost are: Old Testament      Jeremiah 23:1–6 Psalm                    Psalm 23 New Testament     Ephesians 2:11–22 Gospel                   Mark 6:30–34, 53–56 Well, the latest, is that Tucker Carlson has told his loyal followers … Continue reading

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Easter 2 B: Resurrection Oneness

Readings for the Second Sunday of Easter are First Reading         Acts 4:32–35 Psalm                    Psalm 133 New Testament     1 John 1:1–2:2 Gospel                   John 20:19–31 Throughout all my years of ministry if I had a choice of things … Continue reading

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Pentecost 2: Sheep into the Midst of Wolves

Gospel for Proper 6 (Pentecost 2) Series A Matthew 9:35–10:8 (10:9–23)   This is the year of Matthew in the Revised Common Lectionary. But this is the Sunday we get our first real introduction to what it means to be … Continue reading

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Heatherhope Believes In A Dynamic Church

Easter morning listening to the radio. National Public Radio represents the best of broadcast journalism. But I heard exactly two references to the great Christian Festival Day of Easter. One was an offhand comment, just before the segment with “puzzle … Continue reading

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Evangelism as Deprogramming

    Last night was a night of inspiration. Six motivated laypeople and I were discussing what good doctrine might teach us about current practices in our congregations, and the conversation turned to evangelism. We returned to two ideas we … Continue reading

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The Woman at the Well

The famous dialog between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is part of a series of beautifully crafted dialogs in the Fourth Gospel. Several themes appear repeatedly in this series.   Spiritual knowing or seeing is one theme. … Continue reading

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Writing Circle

Writing can be frightening! It’s also pretty scary to live out the love of Jesus Christ. Writing can be challenging! Thinking about faith–daring to question and even to doubt–is also hard stuff. But being part of a circle of people … Continue reading

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