Sermon: “Ask Magdalene” The Call of of Elizabeth Schrader

Listen or watch this service here Scripture: John 11:1-45 The Raising of Lazarus In 2010, a singer-song writer named Elizabeth or Libbie Schrader went to her favorite place to meditate and pray. Her spot is a cemetery in Brooklyn, dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. At the time, Libbie was a lapsed Episcopalian Christian, …

Feelings – Covid-19

See the video here https://youtu.be/XYgAqdSCHIo  Where are you today? We’re all at different places. My place? I want to curl up in a ball into bed and lay there. I don’t want to adult anymore or mom anymore. I don’t want to think. Or act. Or do. This is how I am feeling. And it …

The Life to Which You Are Called

"Are we listening to Moses and the Prophets and the Resurrected Jesus? Do we see the poor at our gates? Do we invest in heaven?"   Jesus has been speaking to the rich and affluent who came to chastise him for hanging out with those “below” his class. His next parable continues to deal with …

The Fragrance of Life

Paul writes from a Roman prison where he expects to be killed for preaching faith in Jesus as Messiah, Christ, and Lord. His letter is to the church in Philippe. Philippians 3:4b-14 John begins his story of the final two weeks of Jesus' life by telling us of Jesus returning to Bethany, where Lazarus has …

The Home of God is Among Mortals

John 11:32-44 Revelation 21:1-6a All Saints Year B John of Patmos is given a revelation, a showing, from God - and it is so hard to describe. He grasps at ways to explain the wonder and love God shows him. He sees in the vision we read today beyond our now, our linear time, and …

Do Not Fear

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 Luke 1:26-38 Do not be afraid. This is a strange greeting, isn’t it? Yet this is how Gabriel, in the Gospel of Luke, says hello to Mary and Zechariah both. Do not be afraid – this is the greeting the Angels give the shepherds. “Each word of assurance offered by the …

Hope Against All Hope

Ezekiel 37:1-14 John 11:1-45 Ezekiel's prophecies don't just spring to life without context. God gives them to Ezekiel to speak about the very real world Ezekiel knows. Ezekiel was born into a priestly family of money, and power. He got an education, and worked as a priest advising the royalty of the Kingdom of Judah. …

I’m Too Busy!

Amos 8:1-12 Luke 10:38-42   Last week, Jesus was approached by a man who had studied scripture, memorized it, and knew all the commentaries. A super well educated man. And that man who knew all the writings asked Jesus - what must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus told him he can't just read …

Like a Fragrance

Isaiah 43:16-21 John 12:1-8   I have a friend who has her grandpa's ball cap in a box in her room. She told me, "Whenever I'm feeling down, I go get that box and open it up. Immediately, it's Papa's smell - and I can feel his arms around me - and the whole day …