Last Wednesday we started the liturgical season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. The season of Lent in the church is a time when we focus on this call to return to the Lord. It is a time of prayer, fasting and self-examination in preparation for the celebration of the...
King cakes, pancakes, roses, chocolates, and ashes – it is going to be a full week! This Wednesday we begin the season of Lent, the six weeks of penitence in which we reflect on Christ’s life and Christ’s death. During this time, we prayerfully prepare for the...
Perhaps among all the news stories about all the challenging things our community, nation and world are facing, you saw the story about Elmo. Yes, Elmo, now it has been a minute or two since our daughters were watching Sesame Street, but this last week Elmo asked a...
After attending the Greensboro MLK breakfast two weeks ago, I got on a plane to Atlanta to attend the first-ever Matthew 25 Summit. The Summit was a gathering of pastors and church members seeking to learn more about how to put into practice the teachings of Jesus to...
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! Capital campaign and Lent and 200th plans, oh my! Shetler discernment and worship and women’s retreat, oh my! Hunger ministries and Christian formation and preschool, oh my! Maybe it is just me, but sometimes when there are a lot...
The mountains of North Carolina are a special place, especially Montreat. It’s a thin place where it feels as if heaven and earth meet; a place to be in God’s beautiful creation, a place of memory for me and so many of you all. The first week of January was a special...
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would have turned 95 next Monday were he still alive. King was a revolutionary leader who cast a powerful vision for what America could be: a land of equality, unity, and justice. He dedicated his life to transforming America to...
As Jill preached on a passage in Luke 2 yesterday, the words of Simeon’s song have stayed with me. “For these eyes of mine have seen the Savior, whom you have prepared for all the world to see: a light to enlighten the nations, and the glory of your people Israel” –...
We have made it once again to Bethlehem to see this thing that God has made known to us. We remember the prophecies of the Old Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament that lead us to Bethlehem, to pay homage to the child, to Jesus. We find ourselves in the...
The world is about to change. That is the promise of Christmas. The promise of the coming of the Messiah. The promise of God becoming human. Mary articulates this promise and expectation in her song of praise (Magnificat) in Luke 1:46-55. Mary is often portrayed as...
