Irreverently Reverend

  Fourth Sunday of Lent How blessed are those whose offense is forgiven, those whose sin is covered! 2  How blessed those to whom Adonai imputes no guilt, in whose spirit is no deceit! 3  When I kept silent, my bones wasted away because of my groaning all day long; 4  day and night your hand was heavy on me; the sap in me dried up as in a summer drought. (Selah) 5  When I acknowledged my sin to you, when I stopped concealing my guilt, and said, “I will confess my offenses to Adonai”; then you, you forgave the guilt of my sin . (Selah) 6  This is what everyone faithful should pray at a time when you can be found. Then, when the floodwaters are raging, they will not reach to him. 7  You are a hiding-place for me, you will keep me from distress; you will surround me with songs of deliverance. (Selah) 8  “I will instruct and teach you in this way that you are to go; I will give you counsel; my ...

  Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Happy are those     who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread,     or sit in the seat of scoffers; 2  but their delight is in the law of the Lord,     and on his law they meditate day and night. 3  They are like trees     planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season,     and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. 4  The wicked are not so,     but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5  Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,     nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6  for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,     but the way of the wicked will perish. (NRSV)          ...

  Third Sunday of Ordinary Time Picture this:   three and a half days of sitting with a laptop on a Zoom webinar with 1,000 other people around the state of Michigan worshipping, arguing, asking, clarifying, calling for final votes, and wondering what on Earth is on the bishop’s tie today.           Welcome to virtual Annual Conference.           To those just joining us it may seem like you picked the one day of purely internal business but this is part of who we are.   We United Methodists are a connectional church, so when you get St. Luke’s you also get Michigan, and you get the Northcentral Jurisdiction, and you get The United Methodist Church as a global body.   We lean into each other, tapping the deep roots of shared mission and resources that crisscross the world.   It can be really, really cool.   And, it can be pretty awful. Because organizations need,...

  Third Sunday of Easter See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us. 2  Dear friends, now we are God’s children, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we’ll see him as he is.  3  And all who have this hope in him purify themselves even as he is pure.  4  Every person who practices sin commits an act of rebellion, and sin is rebellion .  5  You know that he appeared to take away sins, and there is no sin in him.  6  Every person who remains in relationship to him does not sin. Any person who sins has not seen him or known him. 7  Little children, make sure no one deceives you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, in the same way that Jesus is righteous. (CEB)          ...