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Salting the Self
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29; Mark 9:38-50
Sunday, September 26th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Both passages illustrate how our attachment to self gets in the way of spiritual attainment. Jesus has some thoughts about this which includes the path of transformation or salting the self.
Service Bulletin: September 26, 2021
Music: “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan.
Discovering Our Hearts
Mark 10:2-16
Sunday, October 3rd, 2021 : 9:45 AM (Communion)
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Our hearts are designed to be instruments of spiritual perception. When they are working as they should, they are soft, vulnerable, and compassionate. Jesus has some ideas about how we might soften our hearts.
Tough Love
Amos 5:6-7, 10-15; Mark 10:17-31
Sunday, October 10th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Jesus loved this unnamed rich man who approached him. But Jesus’ invitation to follow him grieved the man. Jesus loves us, but his love can be experienced by us as being tough. How do we experience Jesus’ love as being tough?
Is the Third Time a Charm?
Isaiah 53:4-12; Mark 10:35-45
Sunday, October 17th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Just before this section of Mark, Jesus tells of his death for the third time. He affirms again his path not only for himself, but also for his followers. His followers seem to be getting closer to getting him and truly following. How about us?
After the Exile
Jeremiah 31:7-9; Mark 10:46-52
Sunday, October 24th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Exile and return not only refer to a historical reality, but also as a theme for our spiritual journey. Spiritual exile may be an experience which precedes our return. Mark shares a parallel image – blindness and recovery of sight.
Recovering the Sacred
Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Mark 12:28-34
Sunday, October 31st, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
What would our lives and our culture be like if we were bathed in a living recognition of the sacred? What does life and culture look like without it? What can we do to recover the sacred?
The Self Beneath Appearance
Mark 12:38-44
Sunday, November 7th, 2021 : 9:45 AM (Communion)
Rev. John W. Monroe III
This text reveals that there is the self of external appearance and a hidden self beneath the external self. The hidden self is the one that matters. And God sees.
That Which Holds the Chaos
Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13:1-8
Sunday, November 14th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
The biblical vision is large, encompassing the visible and invisible, the temporal and eternal. We live in the intersection and can be supported in extraordinary ways amid the chaos of temporal existence.
That Which Holds the Chaos
Daniel 12:1-3; Mark 13:1-8
Sunday, November 14th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
The biblical vision is large, encompassing the visible and invisible, the temporal and eternal. We live in the intersection and can be supported in extraordinary ways amid the chaos of temporal existence.
Our Only Security
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14; John 18:33-37
Sunday, November 21st, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
How secure Jesus was even at his trial before death. There is only one true source for security, and he was intimately connected to it. Where lies our security?
Beginning at the End
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13; Luke 21:25-36
Sunday, November 28th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Advent, originally, was a season of preparation, not for Christmas, but for the end – Christ’s second comings. Advent begins the church year. It begins the year by thinking about the end. How does the end return to the beginning?
Christmas Preparations
Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 3:1-6
Sunday, December 5th, 2021 : 9:45 AM (Communion)
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Most preparations this time of year are of an external nature – gifts. Decorations, celebrations. These texts call us to prepare our interior landscape for transformation.
The Christmas Pageant
Sunday, December 12th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
The Christmas Cantata
Sunday, December 19th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Reading the Signs
Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14
Friday, December 24th, 2021 : 5:00 & 9:00 PM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Heavenly signs appear in ways that don’t sync up with our expectations, which means that we might be inclined to miss them. How might we develop our capacity to see the signs?
The Seeing that Transforms
John 1:1-14
Sunday, December 26th, 2021 : 9:45 AM
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Which comes first – the seeing or the transformation? The world doesn’t see Christ. If it did, it would become born of God and not just of the flesh. Do we see the light yet?
Before Time Began
Ephesians 1:3-14
Sunday, January 2nd, 2022 : 9:45 AM (Communion)
Rev. John W. Monroe III
Paul’s vision of our being chosen by God, before the foundation of the world, provides the true context for our lives. What might happen in the new year if we could apprehend this context?