Easter April 20, 2014 Matthew 28: 1-10 1 Corinthians 15: 19-26 Rev. Catherine Purves I am a first child. My brother is three years younger than I am. Some of you are undoubtedly the firstborn among your siblings. Others will be the youngest or the dreaded middle child. People have based their whole careers on developing elaborate theories about what it means to be a first child and what it means to follow…
Palm Sunday April 13, 2014 Matthew 21: 1-17 Rev. Catherine Purves Which Jesus did you expect to encounter on this Palm Sunday when you came to church? I imagine that you came looking for the gentle Jesus, the humble Jesus riding on a borrowed donkey, the compassionate Jesus who healed the sick, who welcomed children, and who cared deeply about his bumbling band of disciples. That is the Jesus who usually makes his…
April 6, 2014 Ezekiel 37: 1-14 John 11: 1, 17-27, 38-44 Rev. Catherine Purves Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones. Now hear the word of the Lord. This familiar African American spiritual is based, of course, on our reading from the book of the prophet Ezekiel. It probably makes you think of dancing skeletons. That’s what you’ll see if…
March 30, 2014 John 9: 1-41 Rev. Catherine Purves We all know the expression, “Seeing is believing.” But I think it isn’t quite as simple as that. It would be nice if it were that straightforward. We would probably all like faith to be that easy. A number of years ago I was invited to be part of a group that was going on a trip to Israel. This group would be…
March 23, 2014 Exodus 17: 1-7 John 4: 5-15 Rev. Catherine Purves The main stumbling block that we have in appreciating these two biblical stories from Exodus and the Gospel of John is the fact that we don’t really know what it’s like to be thirsty. All we have to do is turn on the tap to get a drink, or stop in a store and buy a bottle of water. There are…