Lately our current situation has had me thinking about how we respond to suffering. I’ve studied the book of Job to see how he responded when he lost everything. First, he responded with worship. Though Got had sent an Adversary (“Satan” in Hebrew), Job still worshiped God. Currently, I am considering what role resignation has[…]
Grateful for this message from our new District Superintendent, Rev. Jon Strother! The original can be found here. “Do not remember the former things or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness[…]
We celebrate that the coronavirus hasn’t stopped worship at ASUMC. Through technology we haven’t missed a Sunday. But now we are ready to offer another way to worship: in-person worship. If you aren’t comfortable being in a gathering yet, don’t worry. Our service will continue streaming on our Facebook page each Sunday at 10AM. If[…]
Every Monday morning (long before the current pandemic) our District Superintendent has sent the pastors an email full of encouragement. As we work our way through the current time, I thought I’d share her encouragement with you from today: Good Monday Morning! “In you, O Lord, I seek refuge; do not let me ever be[…]
CoronaVirus has limited our activities in so many ways, as individuals, families, and as a church. Yes, the good news is that God has shown us how to be Jesus’ people despite the pandemic. Yes, we have learned new skills in this time that we can take into the post-pandemic future. Yes, this crisis has[…]
Christ is Risen! Christ is Risen Indeed! I wish I could have met the person who first tied the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus to the spring equinox. I would have thanked them. All around us new life is coming forth. Sap rising in the trees. Flowers blooming. In fact, it gets down right[…]
Holy Saturday is a day of awkward silence. But the silence is important because it helps us remember that this day is a Holy Saturday. The black of Good Friday has not yet been shattered by the white of Easter Sunday. Today I want to offer up a reflection from Professor Christopher Beeley: How far[…]
This is the one night of the year when you can be sure we will talk about difficult things. In this case, death. But it is because we are in community, together in the ties that bind, that we can speak of difficult things. So what can we say about death tonight? We’ve all experienced a[…]
Exodus 12:1-14; John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Along about the time of the Last Supper, the rabbis were deep into a practice called midrash. It was the creative, thoughtful practice of storytelling meant to enhance and illuminate the Hebrew scriptures. Midrash stories served like sermon illustrations in a way. And one of the stories that was being[…]
“Life is difficult.” So begins M. Scott Peck’s famous 1978 book on the human experience. He set the tone with those three words: life is difficult. We will all face difficulties. So we should give thought to how we will respond in the face of adversity. Plenty of people out there will offer us shortcuts[…]