Text: John 10:10 (abundant life) * Order of service * Video of complete service Last Sunday when I got home from worship, I learned that one of my theological heroes, Bishop John Shelby Spong, had died at age 90. Spong’s books played an important part in my return to church 20 years ago. So, today I am marking … [Read more…]
Text: 1 Proverbs:1-6, 20-23, 32-33 (Wisdom prepares a path) * Video of complete service I have appreciated some of the changes in the commemorations of 9/11 this year, which is the 20th anniversary of the attacks by Al-Qaeda terrorists on the United States. Not all, mind you. Some of the memorials have been much the same – … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 8:27-35 (“take up you cross”) * Video of complete service The Gospel of Mark can be seen as a comedy. Have you ever thought of it that way? It’s not that people laugh out loud when they read Mark for it tells a dark story filled with dark deeds. It’s just that Mark ends … [Read more…]
Texts: “I Worried” by Mary Oliver * Mark 7:24-37 (Jesus heals two strangers) * Video of complete service * Order of service (PDF) Canada has begun a fourth wave of COVID-19 infections. More than 3,000 new cases are diagnosed every day; and the increase in daily cases — from a low of 300 per day in early July … [Read more…]
Texts: “Wild Geese” by Mary Oliver * Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 (coming in and going out) * Video of complete service Friends, I enjoyed my summer break of four weeks. Kim and I spent time with our grandson from Calgary, Ethan, who at three months continues to seem well. We also enjoyed seven nights in … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 4:35-41 (Jesus calms a storm)Video of the complete service * Order of service (PDF) This past Tuesday, as has been the case on most Tuesdays over the past 17 months, I joined an hour-long Zoom gathering of United Church ministers. These weekly gatherings have been one of the silver linings to the pandemic. Through them, … [Read more…]
Texts: Mark 6:1-5 (Jesus rejected in Nazareth) * “My Little Town” by Paul Simon Video of complete service * Order of service (PDF) I remember the release of Simon and Garfunkel’s single “My Little Town” with fondness. It was October 1975, which was the first time in my life I was living away from my family. I … [Read more…]
Text: Mark 4:1-9 (the parable of the sower) * Video of complete service * Order of service (PDF) Ten years ago this week on my first Sunday as an ordained minister, I was happy the assigned Gospel reading was the parable of the sower. It seemed like a good text with which to start ministry in Borderlands — a … [Read more…]
Texts: “One Fine Day” * Mark 2:1-12 (a healing) * Order of service (PDF) * Video of complete service Is the COVID-19 pandemic over in Alberta? This Thursday, most health restrictions will be lifted. The numbers of new cases, patients in hospital, and active infections in the province have plunged from the highs of early May. Most importantly, vaccinations … [Read more…]
Text: 1 Samuel 8 (Israel asks for a king) * Video of complete service I am struck by the depth of the sorrow and horror felt by Canadians this spring after the discovery of the remains of 215 children in an unmarked grave at the site of a former Indian Residential School in Kamloops. Consciousness of the … [Read more…]