You are free to fail!

 

Reformation Sunday (Oct 31), 2021

Today is not only Reformation Sunday, but also the Sunday in which we confirm youth in our church. 

The youth in our society are the most evaluated, analyzed and assessed youth in the history of our country, if not human civilization.  Living under this microscope, many youth are developing a deep fear of failure.  Pastor Rob offers the (Reformation) Gospel to such youth and to all of us:  You are free to fail!  A sermon on youth culture today, the fear of failure and ultimately the promises of God’s love.

The image comes from: https://alittlecounseling.com/blog/2019-02-24-fear-of-failure/

Simple questions, challenging answers

 

October 24, 2021

Jesus asks a simple question to the blind beggar, Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52):  What do you want?

It turns out, this is a very simple question that is a challenge to answer.  In this spirit, Pastor Rob asks three other questions of us:

• What makes you cry out for mercy?
• Whom are you called to stop for?
• What is your cloak?

The sculpture is by artist Gurdon Brewster.  You can find his website here

A church on a political fault line

 October 17, 2021

We all know of the fault lines in California.  But here in Lititz, we exist on a political fault line, a community that has lots “red” and “blue” people and every shade in between.

What does it mean for us to be the church on fault lines?  Pastor Rob offers his vision of what it means for us to be church in this time and place: not necessarily purple, but committed to being peace makers, people who strive to make life together possible.  A reflection on Jesus’ words in Mark 10:32-45 and the really, really dumb question of James and John.

Moving from independent to interdependent

 

October 10, 2021

In life we move from dependent (on our parents, etc) to independent.  Yet the deeper move is from independent to interdependent, in which we realize that we and others bring gifts and have needs.  Pastor Rob describes how unfortunately money can get in the way of realizing our deep interconnectedness as people.

A reflection on the rick young man from Mark 10, what it means to grow up…and a God in Jesus who loves us even when we don’t want to grow up!

Image is from:  Daily Theology’s Post on “The Rich Young Man and Privilege.”

What hells we make

 

September 26, 2021

Jesus speaks of a dark place of suffering:  Gehenna.  This word is sometimes translated as hell, but it means something less (and something more) than this.  Pastor Rob reflects on the “gehennas” or hells we make in this world.  Jesus gives a word of warning to us about not entering hell, but also a reminder that the alternative, entering into life, doesn’t rest on our shoulders.

The image comes from:  https://redeeminggod.com/gehenna-hell/

Breaking News: One more crisis you can’t do anything about

 

September 19, 2021

Breaking News–There is always breaking news!

What do we as Christians do with the constant news feed of world problems?  As Christians we feel a call to serve; this week (Mark 9:30-37) Jesus explicitly here a call “to be a servant to all.”

Pastor Rob reflects on how Jesus does the impossible work: saving the world, saving your neighbor and saving you; we instead of saving people are free to serve others.  But what do we do about the “all” part of serving?

This image comes from an article on “Avoiding being overwhelmed by the news“

Carrying the cross

 September 12, 2021

The images and recollection of Sept 11 brought to our mind many images of sacrifice, courage and even the cross.  Pastor Rob reflects on courage, sacrifice and the call of Jesus to pick up our cross (Mark 8:27-38).  What might this look like in our lives today?