The word Maundy is derived from a French word meaning mandate or command. It commemorates the last opportunity Jesus had to give out his instructions or teachings. Jesus knew his hour had come. He was with his disciples and began to wash their feet, to show he loved them to the end, and to set an…
A Place of Grace
Sermons (Page 55)
At St. Mark, we are on an alternative timeframe for our Lenten journey from ‘Ashes to Easter’. Today we celebrated Palm Sunday. This was Jesus’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem on the back of a colt (donkey). Pastor Beth talked of Luke’s Gospel, 19:28-40, not naming the two disciples who were sent to find a colt…
All are welcome to the Wednesday Evening Soup Suppers and Lenten Worship. Soup is served at 5:45pm in the Parish Hall and the “Open My Life” service begins at 6:30pm in the sanctuary. Each week, members of St. Mark will offer reflections on what it means to Open their Lives to God. Our preachers…
This Lenten Sunday was a service of Healing, Forgiveness and Reconciliation. As we journey through the season of Lent, we trust in the healing power of God’s love. As a symbol of God’s healing love, when we went forward for communion, we were anointed with oil with the sign of the cross on our forehead.…
Pastor Beth asks us, in this sermon, to spend this Lent deliberately fostering our relationship with God. For some that is giving something up – something that is a barrier to our relationship with God. Pastor Beth encourages us to also add things that foster our relationship with God; for some that might be helping…
Through scripture and music, the message of Transfiguration was vividly portrayed at St. Mark on Sunday February 7. When Jesus went up to the mountain to pray, he took disciples with him to witness. What they saw and heard will forever be remembered… “the appearance of his face changed and his clothes became dazzling white”. God’s voice is heard from…
Do you see yourself as defined by your profession or what you do/did for a living? Or do you see yourself as something more…perhaps loving, kind and wise? Pastor Beth’s son figured out at an early age something that a lot of adults haven’t. That is…how we live our lives is different from our job.…
Pastor Beth asked the congregation this question in the sermon today. What is worth it to you to be uncomfortable, to work really hard, to not give up? For some it is physical fitness, for others academic or professional success, for some it is healthy relationships. For Jesus it was worth the struggle, even in…
Miracles are simple things that turn into amazing abundance. In today’s Gospel, we hear of Jesus performing his first miracle. After his mother asks him, he changes water into wine and his Apostles saw the glory of this and believed in Jesus. Pastor Eric spoke of God’s miracles being a way of seeing God’s love…
Ernest Hemmingway is quoted as saying, “We are all broken. That is how the light gets in”. Pastor Beth recounts her own journey as a young pastor, unable to hear God’s voice as she madly worked to become the ideal and perfect pastor. Her spiritual director asked her to quietly contemplate the blessing of God’s…