Breathe In, Breathe Out – February 9, 2025
We continue in Luke’s gospel this morning, where we find Jesus now in the thick of his public ministry. If you recall the readings we heard the past two weeks, we saw Jesus return to his hometown synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah, saying ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ Everyone was amazed – until the rest of his sermon led them to run him out of town and try to...
Read MoreThe Hope of Community – January 26, 2025
Our second reading this morning comes from 1 Corinthians, chapter twelve. Paul is writing to the church in Corinth, which was diverse both in terms of theological background, having both Jews and Gentile converts, and in terms of nationality. Corinth was a port city, and had people coming through from all over the world. It was also a conflicted church, full of people who struggled to get along and work together. We’re picking it up toward the end of the letter, in the middle of a monologue about gifts of the Holy Spirit and their role in the community. Scripture: 1 Corinthians...
Read MoreGood Food: Hungry for Hope (December 1, 2024)
Welcome to Advent! This is a season of preparation, of making our hearts and minds ready to receive the good news that God has come to us once again. It’s also a season of waiting and longing, not only for the celebrations of Christmas but for Christ’s return, when our hope will become sight and our prayer will become praise. This year, even in the midst of indulgence and celebrations and lights and decorations and events – we’re using this space to zero in on what we’re REALLY hungry for: hope, peace, joy, and love. For the next four weeks, we’ll take a look at each one in...
Read MoreAll Saints Sunday: An Eternal Hope – November 3, 2024
The lectionary doesn’t give us passages from the book of Revelation very often, because it’s truly a little terrifying and can be tricky to interpret. But today, we’re going to hear from the very end of the book – the second-to-last chapter – which offers us a vision of what God intends eternity to look like. Scripture: Revelation 21:1-6 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And...
Read MoreWho We Are: The Work of Love – October 27, 2024
Today, we’re wrapping up our three-week series introducing and diving deep into Parkwood’s mission statement. If you’ve missed the last two weeks, I encourage you to check out our YouTube channel to catch up – this will make more sense in context, I promise. Our Mission is this:Rooted in Christ’s love, Parkwood Presbyterian Church seeks to grow in love for God and neighbor. This love is the work of our hearts, to care and be cared for;of our souls, to know and be known,of our minds, to learn and to teach,and our strength, to do justice and sow hope. Today, we’re going to...
Read MoreWho We Are: Growing in Love for God – October 20, 2024
Today, we continue our deep dive into Parkwood’s Mission Statement, looking at where it came from, how it shapes who we are as a church community and what we do. It goes like this: Rooted in Christ’s love, Parkwood Presbyterian Church seeks to grow in love for God and neighbor. This love is the work of our hearts, to care and be cared for;of our souls, to know and be known;of our minds, to learn and to teach;and our strength, to do justice and sow hope. Today, we’re going to zero in on growing in love for God. What does that look like? Scripture: Mark 12:28-34 One of the...
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