THE Inauguration Speech

 3 Epiphany (Sunday, January 26, 2025)

Today we hear Jesus’ inauguration speech as he gives his first sermon (Luke 4:11-21).  In this sermon, Jesus lays out the fundamental direction of his ministry:

• Uplifting the poor
• By…opening the eyes and hearts of the rich to share what they have
• so that… all may live in a “body” that loves God and loves neighbor

It turns out this message was fundamentally different than the way the world worked 2,000 years ago.  The message continues to be different from how our world works today.  Then, and today, the culture’s moral foundation was a trinity of the self:  self-expression, self-achievement and self-pleasure. 

Which brings us the image for the sermon – bubbles of potential college majors.  Pastor Rob invites us to a different way to talk to young people about their futures, one that would be less pagan and more focused on Christ’s teachings.

Confirming God is the God who turns Water into Wine

 January 19, 2025

Today St. Paul celebrates the confirmation of five adults.  (Confirmation is a public affirmation by a teen or adult of their baptism, which typically happened at a younger age).

The story of Jesus turning water into wine at Cana (John 2:1-11) provides a framework for thinking through:  What then are we confirming?

We are confirming that God is a God who turns water into wine.

We are confirming that we are not gods who can turn water into wine, but we can fill the cup to the brim, trusting that God in Jesus Christ will make water into wine, for God’s glory.

What do we tell the next generation?

January 12, 2025 (Baptism of Jesus)

Today we have a special event at St. Paul — the Baptism of five youth/older children.

It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the question — what do we want to pass along to the next generation about faith?  What is most important to know about our Baptisms and our life as a disciple of Jesus?

Pastor Rob offers three things

1.  You are loved
2. Others are loved too
3. …well, you will have to listen to find out 🙂

S.T.A.R. Goals

 Christmas II/Epiphany (January 5, 2025)

What are your resolutions, dreams and goals for 2025?

Are they about your star rising or orienting your life to the one who causes the stars to rise?

Pastor Rob recommends “S.T.A.R.” goals, reflecting on the journey of the magi (aka wisemen)

Christmas Eve: How do we measure time

 

Christmas Eve 2024

How do you measure time?  Luke's Gospel offers us a number of ways

• By who is in power
• By months of pregnancy
• By grass growth in the fields
• By beginning relationships and births within families

These are all familiar in our lives.  So far, so good.

But the angels point toward another reality though, that somehow Jesus life is beyond time; that all of time hinges around him. 

What does this mean that the eternal entered into a human timeline?  How does this change how we measure time in our lives?

This image comes from a blog page -- where it is not cited, but seems like it originally is a creation of Olga Ptashko.

People of the Promise: John

 

Advent 4 (Dec 22, 2024)

In countless Christmas movies, the plot remains the same:  Something has jeopardized Christmas.  If the characters don’t get their acts together and love, cheer, sing and believe enough, Christmas might just not happen — the sleigh might not have enough Christmas Spirit to run!!  

All too often, we function like the people in the movies, believing that Christmas depends on us.  This just rachets up the stress.

As an antidote for our Christmas stress, Pastor Rob offers us the promises given to John the Baptist. 

1.  Christmas isn’t about you
2.  Christmas is for you

People of the Promise: Elizabeth

Advent 3, 2024

There are no “small” roles!

When Elizabeth discovers that Mary is pregnant with Jesus, Elizabeth does something amazing (Luke 1:39-55).  Instead of feeling threatened that her own pregnancy would be overshadowed, she rejoices and magnifies Mary’s joy.

What allows Elizabeth to do the almost divine thing here, to celebrate, free of jealousy, for another’s humans success?  Perhaps it is her conviction that she had a part to play in God’s unfolding drama in Jesus Christ.  Elizabeth knows in this story, every role, every person matters.  This allows her to rejoice in her own role and rejoice to discover how God works in the lives of others.

That said, in Elizabeth’s life, there were many times when she wasn’t sure what her role actually entailed.  In our lives too, we don’t always know.  Instead, we must live by the promise, that we matter to God and that God’s mercy is from generation to generation.  For the stuff that Mary sings about — the world turning upside down — doesn’t happen overnight and requires our faithful actions over the generations.