Sermons from January 2021

4 Epiphany – January 31, 2021 Mark 1:21-28           So, I think today’s gospel story may be difficult for many of us to relate to. It sounds like an exorcism story and many of us have no direct experience of that. But there is so much we can learn from this story. Mark tells this story about unclean spirits and he tells it up front. In other words at the very beginning of the Gospel of Mark.  Keep in mind…

3 Epiphany – January 24, 2021 Mark 1:14-20 Our gospel reading begins a bit ominously, with John arrested and Jesus arriving in what was considered the backwaters of Capernaum in Galilee – Gentile territory.  This means that Jesus, who is beginning his ministry, does not go to some holy place, to some religious center. Instead, he withdraws to Galilee, heathen Galilee, Galilee of the Gentiles, a place where, according to Jewish belief, pure faith has been distorted. So at the…

1 Epiphany: Baptism of our Lord – January 10, 2021 Genesis 1:1-5 and Mark 1:4-11           I believe we are all disturbed, or should be disturbed, by the riots and siege of the US Capitol this past week. For me, at first, it felt like watching a movie or a tv show for entertainment value, knowing that something like that could never happen in real life. And then feeling sick, because it was really was happening. And I’m still trying…

Epiphany – January 3, 2021 Matthew 2:1-12           Eckhart Tolle has said – “No matter how long your journey appears to be, there is never more than this: one step, one breath, one moment….Now.”     Now. Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany – which actually occurs on Wednesday the 6th – the twelfth day of Christmas – but we’re moving the feast to celebrate it in today’s worship. I love the Epiphany story. It’s one of my favorites…