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We might expect religion to...

Illustration
Proper 13 | Ordinary Time 18 - A
Genesis 32:22-31
We might expect religion to make our life with God easier. That wasn't the religion of Jesus, of Jacob, or the religion offered in the Bible. As life is a struggle, so our relationship with God can be a struggle. For every person who zips through life with few problems convinced God is the source of such ease, there's all the rest of us who struggle. Yet, our struggle isn't senseless.

Jacob comes limping away from Peniel knowing something more about a God who cares enough to struggle with him. Harry Emerson Fosdick, great preacher and teacher

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Wow, how can things get any better. God has not only taken our punishment, he has turned back our enemy. What more can we ask. We shouldn’t have to fear anything. God says this to Jerusalem. Can this apply to America also?

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My wife, who thrives on organization, has a motto: “A place for everything, and everything in its place.” It’s an expression of her passion for keeping a room, a house, or a garage orderly. But I think the principle extends still further. It goes beyond just physical spaces. For what is true of cupboards and closets is even more profoundly true of a human life.

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Contents
“A Rainy Road To The Jordan” by David O. Bales
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A Rainy Road To The Jordan
by David O. Bales
Luke 3:7-18

CSSPlus

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“...but one who is more powerful than I is coming..” (V. 16a)

Good morning girls, good morning boys!

My, it’s so fun to see you today.  Happy Advent! Know why I (say, sing, shout, chant) Happy Advent? (children may respond)

Advent means “a coming.” Something or somebody is coming. Just around the corner. Know what it is? (children respond)

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I've had many reports of the Remembrance Sunday service held at Dickleburgh (in Norfolk, England) this year, mostly about the preacher. Since Dickleburgh has a historic connection with the Americans from the time of Second World War, they always invite the American Air Base at Mildenhall in Suffolk to join them for the service, and always invite the current American air force chaplain to preach.

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On the Sunday afternoon following Thanksgiving, when I was in seventh grade, it began to snow. It started slowly and undramatically -- much like any number of other snows I had experienced growing up in Detroit. The sky turned the shade of dirty wool and the flakes danced through the wind as in one of those glass balls that you invert. Little by little the sidewalks whitened, and soon the neighborhood was alive with the rasping sound of shovels. Before long the roads were filled and you could no longer see the curb.

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