Month: December 2020

“But now thus says the Lord…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1 (NRSV) I am a wordsmith. If you think about it from a purely professional standpoint, in my role as Senior Minister, you employ me to use words. Admittedly some of you probably […]

You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forward I make you hear new things, hidden things that you have not known. (Isaiah 48:6) Every year, as the new year approaches, I take a couple of hours to reflect on the previous year. I get a cup of […]

When Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of […]

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among people. (Luke 2:14) Christmas Day was a day of joy, confusion, and hurry in my childhood home in Connecticut. After the unwrapping of gifts and breakfast together, we piled in the car for Christmas Day worship, as was our Methodist custom. When worship ended […]

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14 (KJV) I heard the bells on Christmas Day Their old, familiar carols play, and wild and sweet The words repeat Of peace on earth, good-will to men! In 1861, two years before writing his famous Christmas Bells poem, Henry […]

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (Luke 2:19-20) David and I had been married about a year and a half when we moved from rural Ohio to Mayview, Missouri. I […]

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1, NRSV) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love […]

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) One of the gifts of the Christmas season is its luminosity…the way the season lights up offering a feast for the eyes. I love the twinkle lights on both […]