October 27, 2013 Ephesians 1: 11-23 Luke 6: 20-26 Rev. Catherine Purves Inheritance can be good or bad. And I guess there is a certain irony in that. You might inherit your grandmother’s diamond ring, or your father’s sunny disposition, or your great aunt’s ability to play concert piano. But you could inherit a pile of debts, a bad reputation, or a genetic predisposition to heart disease. Inheritance happens through relationships: familial, physical,…
October 20, 2012 Jeremiah 31: 31-34 2 Timothy 3: 14 – 4: 5 Rev. Catherine Purves You can learn without learning. You can study without understanding. You can know without being changed by that knowledge. Consider the amazing, but limited, abilities of a parrot. How or why parrots do what they do is quite mystifying. They appear to be able to learn to speak by repeating back whatever is said to them. “Polly…
October 13, 2013 Jeremiah 29: 1, 4-7 Luke 17: 11-19 Rev. Catherine Purves We are neither lepers nor exiles. And maybe that’s the problem. Or perhaps the problem is that we don’t see any way to identify with lepers and exiles. Because we have never thought of ourselves collectively as a people gripped by an incurable disease or as strangers in a strange land. And the result of that may be that we…
October 6: 2013 Luke 16: 19-31 Rev. Catherine Purves People who recognize the name Lazarus probably do so because they remember the story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. That is certainly an unforgettable story that stands out from among all of the rambling narratives of people Jesus knew and people Jesus helped. The relationship that Jesus had with Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary, was quite unique. …
September 29, 2013 Mark 1: 1-8 Matthew 28: 16-20 Rev. Catherine Purves I’m sure that none of you have ever lost sleep over how we arrange our liturgical furniture in the church. The precise positioning of the Communion Table, where we have placed the Pulpit, and the spot where the Baptismal Font stands may not strike you as crucial or even particularly notable. Perhaps we could rearrange the furniture. What do you think? …