Success and Popularity
For Sunday, July 26, 2015 – John 6:1-21 At this point in Jesus’ ministry he faces the twin problems of success and popularity. Problems? Many of us feel we could do with a little more of each. Isn’t greater success proof that we are accomplishing more? Doesn’t popularity mean greater influence? With these kinds of “problems,” we imagine beginning to […]
Come Away and Rest
For Sunday, July 19, 2015 – Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 As excited as kids just home from camp, the disciples tell Jesus about their amazing expeditions to the places he has sent them. They went with nothing—no supplies, no money, no instruction manual—and have returned filled with a deeper sense of their own capacity and calling. […]
The High Price of Regret
For Sunday, July 12, 2015 – Mark 6:14-29 When the disciples go out, two by two, carrying the light of God’s love and learning not to fear rejection, they are becoming themselves, strong in their own identities. How upsetting this is to the established realms of power in our lives. Going from village to village, […]
Learning to Fail
For July 5, 2015 – Mark 6:1-13 All Jesus does is go home for the weekend and teach in his childhood synagogue. How could this upset anyone? Yet it does. “Where did he learn to speak like this, with such wisdom?” they say. “How can he do such deeds of power? Isn’t he just the […]
