Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. February 17, 2019 Text: Luke 6:21, Old Testament: Jeremiah 17:5-10, New Testament: Luke 6:17-26 There is a tension in Bible translation between people who believe God is concerned about our material needs and those who believe God is concerned about satisfying our spiritual needs. Where are you in this conversation? When you read Luke 6: 21, is Jesus talking about people’s physical hunger or is He talking about…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. October 28, 2018 Text: Job 42:3, Old Testament: Job 42:1-6, New Testament: Hebrews 11:19-31 Elie Weisel and the prisoners of Auschwitz stood before a gallows where a child was hanging. One of his Jewish friends looked at the child and muttered, “Where is God?” Elie quietly responded, “He is there, on the gallows.” Elie Weisel’s response was remarkably similar to the Christian confession about the Cross. There on…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. October 21, 2018 Text: Job 38:2, Old Testament: Job 38:1-7, 31-34, New Testament: Hebrews 5:1-10 Arial footage of Mexico Beach, Florida was stunning. What had been a tourist destination for thousands of people was reduced to wasteland by a Category Four hurricane. Insurance companies cannot restore the community that once lived in the Florida Panhandle. FEMA cannot recreate the relationships that existed in Mexico Beach prior to…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. June 17, 2018 Text: Rom. 15:5-6, Old Testament: Psalm 100, New Testament: Rom. 15:1-13 We live during the Balkanization of Western Civilization. By Balkanization, I mean the political break-up of Western community around tribal interests that pit a group of people against another in a power struggle. The term originally described the break-up of Yugoslavia after Communism’s fall. Yugoslavia had been one nation where various religions and nations…
Rev. Dr. John J. Lolla, Jr. March 11, 2018 Text: John 2:18, O.T.: Exodus 20:1-17, N.T.: John 2:13-22 People are strange. On one hand, there’s a side of us who want an authority figure – someone who shows us how to be happy, how to be successful. On the other hand, once someone is an authority figure, people test their authority. Very young children accept parents as authority figures. Wisdom, love and sacrifice are…