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“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 Encouragement is such an important part of the Christian life and yet we often dismiss it as something minor or insignificant. On the surface, we consider encouragement as nothing more than a pat on the back. The truth is, […]

If you live in our area, you’ve seen the bright blue signs Locust Grove has distributed as part of the “Change the Conversation” campaign. We jumped into this movement because it’s clear that public conversation is not currently in a healthy state. Sadly, it’s a mess. There’s too much anger, too much fear, and too […]

The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year. It also turns out to be one of the most stressful and difficult times of the year. There are so many activities and demands placed on each one of us that stress levels seems to be turned up. You can see it on […]

In the reading today from Acts, Peter shares the Gospel – the Good News, the proclamation of good tidings – that Jesus was anointed by God (i.e., God’s Messiah) and that God has raised Jesus from the dead as a sign that he has been given authority as Lord. This is the Good News that […]

The Easter Vigil is observed by many churches that have a high liturgical tradition. In these churches, the Vigil is held in the hours of darkness between sunset on Holy Saturday and sunrise on Easter Day. As night gives way to day, it becomes the first official celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. The reading […]

Holy Saturday obviously does not capture the Christian imagination like either of the days surrounding it. In many Christian traditions, the day has been relatively neglected. However, in recent times there has been increased attention paid to the question this day raises. What should it mean to Christians to contemplate a day in which God […]

Good Friday is the most solemn day of the Christian calendar. It is in every way an antidote to a view of Christianity that is too sweet and shallow to grapple with the realities of existence. Good Friday sees, in concentrated form, the evil and darkness that damages God’s good creation. In following Christ, we […]

Today’s readings pull together several threads of salvation that run through the Old and New Testaments. The reading from Exodus recounts the extremely important establishment of the Passover.  Christians sometimes fail to appreciate the relationship of the events of Holy Week to Passover. The timing of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem and everything that follows is […]

Today we again read Isaiah 50:4-9a, which is the third of the Servant songs. As we think of the servant’s sufferings, let us also think on the servant as a teacher who knows “how to sustain the weary with a word.” We can be inspired by knowing that God sustains us through weariness. In Christ, […]

Isaiah 49 contains the second of the four servant songs in the Book of Isaiah.  Here the servant expresses both the past and future aspects of God’s plan. Israel has been called into a covenant relationship with God that will advance God’s glory and fulfill the ancient promise to Abraham to bless all the nations […]

Today’s reading from Isaiah is the first of the four Servant Songs the book contains. This one speaks of how God’s anointed agent will establish justice upon the earth. We tend to hear promises of justice and judgment as ominous phrases. But that is because we are accustomed to our human understandings of justice and […]

Today is Palm Sunday, the last Sunday in Lent. As we move into Holy Week, it is helpful to remember that every Sunday is a “mini-Easter,” a celebration of  the Resurrection. Even in the darkest of weeks, we can know that Sunday is coming. The reading from Isaiah is the first of several this week. […]

Today’s reading from Jeremiah again sounds the note of hope that God will restore the land and its people to wholeness. The promised salvation, however, is accompanied by the justice and righteousness that comes under the rule of God’s Messiah. Although we modern Westerners are wary of both rulers and rules, we must not draw […]

The reading from Jeremiah today both comforts us and reminds us of a painful truth. It tells of God’s promise to restore and heal the people after they have experienced the dreadful consequences of self-centeredness. We need the comfort of knowing that joy and praise are indeed possible after heartache. But the painful truth is […]

This is the first of three days reading from Psalm 118. This song of praise for God’s deliverance is one of the more familiar Psalms, and has been much beloved in both Hebrew and Christian tradition. Martin Luther, for instance, called it, “My own beloved psalm.” It has been called “open-ended” for the mystery regarding […]