Soon after the pandemic started in the US in March, there was a curious correlation in a sudden surge of demand in pet adoptions. Washington Post reported in August: Shelters, nonprofit rescues, private breeders, pet stores — all reported more consumer demand than there were animals to fill it. Some rescues were reporting dozens of […]
From Exodus 33 The people of Israel are camped out in the desert wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. Last week we read in Ch. 32, that Moses climbed up Mt Sinai to commune with God and returned with the 1o Commandments. In the absence of their human leader, the ancient Israelites grew restless and […]
The Israelites were living in the tangible presence of God. They were miraculously delivered from slavery in Egypt, by crossing the red sea and escaping their Egyptian pursuers. A pillar of cloud by day and fire by night guided their daily journey. Every morning when they woke up, their food for the day was on […]
The Israelites are in their 6th week of 40 years of wandering in the Wilderness after being liberated from slavery in Egypt. Exodus 16-17 begins a Wilderness cycle of crisis-grumbling-providence-gratitude. It begins with complaint. They ran out of food and complained bitterly, How long do you think it’ll be, Moses, before we […]
We are moving through the Book of Exodus this month as God breaks cycles of poverty, oppression, slavery. For Jews this story is the central claim of their faith. Out of hopeless slavery & death appears life and a future with Yahweh, their God. In these chapters we witness how God liberates an oppressed people, delivers them, […]
Last Sunday, we heard the story of how the Civil Disobedience and acts of resistance of a few women saved the life of Moses during the regime of an insecure Pharoah. Brian Bantum: Perhaps revolution has always been enacted through the small acts that refuse to accommodate the regimes of death that press in each […]
Exodus 1-2:1-10 The end of Genesis focused on the patriarchs – Jacob & his sons. The Book of Exodus begins with five courageous women: Shiphrah, Puah, Yocheved, Miriam, & Pharaoh’s daughter. It is a lesser known part of the story that sometimes is omitted in the retelling. But we need to know the story for […]
Genesis 41-50 This passage holds theologically complex understandings about reconciliation, forgiveness, and the question of God’s purpose and whether God ever causes bad things to happen so good can come of them. We are in the midst of complicated family dynamics and drama, with multiple character twists, missteps and eventual spiritual growth. Through jealousy and […]
We welcome guest preacher, Amara Oden, to our virtual pulpit.
Based on Genesis 37 & 39 I wonder how many of you have Andrew Lloyd Webber’s soundtrack of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat running through your head after opening my email yesterday about what the theme for worship would be today. One of the songs stuck in my head is – Go, go go […]