Rev. Zach

Isaiah 9:1-4     Psalm 27:1, 4-9     1 Corinthians 1:10-18     Matthew 4:12-23 Have you ever been on a trust walk? You either have a line of blindfolded people being led by one person who can see really well, or you have people in pairs taking turns as blindfolded or leading. This is an activity that is most suited for a camp. For the young, the idea of a trust walk is scary because you do not know what could happen. For the old, the idea of a trust walk is scary because you know exactly what could happen, and it usually involves a trip to the emergency room! Although it is usually designed to be a safe experience – affirming one’s ability to trust – mistakes can happen, even at a camp with trained facilitators. Like the year I saw a leader (no it wasn’t me) lead a line of blindfolded kids under a sign that had a bee’s nest inside the post. We got lucky on that one. No one was allergic and the stings were minimal. What we learned was that it i...

Isaiah 49:1-7     Psalm 40:1-11     1 Corinthians 1:1-9     John 1:29-42 “Can I help you find anything?” That’s the phrase we hear in just about any retail market from grocery stores to car lots. Most of us want to hear that in some way, even though we hate answering the question. Usually I say, “No, thanks. Just looking.” Of course there are some stores that you feel you need a flare gun in order to get some kind of service. I’ll never forget being in a certain large store with a friend looking for fabric dye. After about 20 minutes of fruitless searching in the obvious places he walked to the center of several aisles and shouted, “FABRIC DYE! WHERE IS IT?” My wife and I instinctively walked in opposite directions away from him and later rejoined. Sometimes it seems that our world is full of loud voices competing for their own interests. Sometimes the church becomes caught in the crossfire between joining the shouting match and feeling like we’v...