On December 23, the 4th Sunday of Advent, our St. Mark Sunday School students led worship by reading scriptures, offering prayers, providing special music and serving communion. To augment the scriptures, the story of the birth of Jesus was portrayed by the students in costume on a big screen slideshow. Pastor Beth created the program…
Sunday, December 23 – Sunday School Christmas Program On this Sunday, our children and youth will lead us in worship at both services (8:30 am and 11:00 am) celebrating “The Advent of Love”. Come hear the Christmas story and sing many of your favorite carols. Monday, December 24 – Christmas Eve 5:00 pm – Family…
Luke 3:7-18 talks about trees, producing fruit and being worthy of turning and John-the-Baptist who spoke of the One to come. John taught that preparation for God’s reign is not a matter of identity but of bearing fruits of merciful justice, radical generosity, and vocational integrity. Pastor Eric asked us what kind of tree do…
On this second Sunday of Advent, we hear the message, “Prepare the way!” The Gospel of Luke, 3:1-6 shows John the Baptist heralding the coming of Jesus, telling the baptized people to prepare for the crooked to be made straight and the rough ways to be made smooth. The coming of Jesus, this time of…
Pastor Beth asked us how, as we start the new church year and prepare our hearts for the birth of Christ, Jesus talking about the end times in Luke 21:25-36 makes us feel. The words are foreboding and unsettling. We live in a world of mixed up priorities. Jesus shakes us up from complacency. Be…
On this Christ The King Sunday, the Gospel from John (18:33-38) emphasizes Jesus telling Pilate, “My kingdom is not from this world.” Jesus is not an earthly king but a king who exercises his power with truth; knowing his victory will be won through love. In his sermon, Pastor Eric suggested hearing sad songs can…
In today’s Gospel, Mark 13:1-8, Jesus wanted his disciples to know that things would get difficult and that the temple was not the center of their religion. People were the church. Does the bible say we have to go to church? If we are the church, Pastor Beth asked us why is it important for…
On this Armistice / Veterans Day, our Gospel (Mark 12), tells of Jesus warning the people to beware of scribes who, for the sake of appearance, walk around in long robes and contribute large sums into the church treasury. Yet they are the ones who “devour widows’ houses”. In contrast, Jesus remarks about the truly…
29 October 2018 A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children” Jeremiah 31:15 Once again we are horrified and in anguish following a mass killing in a house of worship. Last Saturday morning an intruder burst into the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, killing eleven…
“We give thanks for the many different Saints in our lives” was Pastor Beth’s beginning to her sermon. She shared with us some of the life and then the death of her father who died this past February. Love and grief are intertwined. In today’s Gospel, John 11:32-44, the humanity of Jesus, who wept over…