You know how nerve-wracking it is to wait and wonder whether you’re hired for a job?  Sometimes we have the same kind of uncertainty about God.  But worry no longer…for God has made a new covenant with us in Jesus Christ.  You’re hired!  You are part of God’s family, now […]

With two weeks until the election, a lot of people are asking “whose side are you on?”  But what does it mean to be on God’s side?   19th Sunday after Pentecost (Year A) – Sunday, October 19, 2014 – Isaiah 45:1-9, Matthew 22:15-22 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia […]

Today we explore Matthew’s version of a story Jesus told – a story about invited guests who reject the invitation the wedding banquet of their king’s son.  For Matthew and his community, this story was a way to condemn those who rejected their invitation to come to faith in Christ […]

What does God look like?  And what does God desire for the world?  In many ways, our whole religion is about responding to these questions.  The chief priests and elders in Jerusalem thought they knew all the answers.  Sometimes we do.  But Jesus always keeps surprising us.   17th Sunday […]

How much is enough?  This is no simple question, and yet it is one we are all called to answer for ourselves.  God has a vision for our life, a vision that God teaches the people of Israel in the desert wilderness.  Day after day, God feeds his people just […]

Big surprise – life isn’t fair.  And thank God that God isn’t fair either.  Replacing our sense of fairness with a sense of gratitude can change our lives. 15th Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, September 21, 2014 – Matthew 20:1-16 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia “Seeing Gratitude” – Pastor […]

Forgiveness can never be forced, but it is the only way forward.  God always finds a way to love and forgive us. 14th Sunday after Pentecost – Sunday, September 14, 2014 – Genesis 50:15-21, Matthew 18:21-35 St. Jacob’s-Spaders Lutheran Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia “God Finds a Way” – Pastor Evan Davis […]

There are times when we might want a quick, easy way to show someone in our church community the door.  “Three strikes and you’re out” can sound pretty good.  Jesus gives us a healthy way to deal with conflict, but if we look at this conversation more closely, what is […]

It is so easy to, as the apostle Paul says, to “be overcome by evil.”  It is much harder to “overcome evil with good.”  A closer look at what’s going on in Ferguson, Missouri, shows that very clearly.   12th Sunday after Pentecost – August 31, 2014 Romans 12:9-21, Matthew […]