Rev. Zach

Psalm 85:1-13     Colossians 2:6-7     Luke 11:1-13 Today’s passages are all about expressions of faith centered on prayer, and how much more faithful can you get than the prayer of Jesus? It’s true. These are the words we say because we believe they are the essential words of one who follows in the way of Jesus. Of course, we don’t always think about what the words mean. Sometimes we say the prayer because we believe that we are supposed to, and not because we really think, feel, and believe the words to be accurate expressions of our faith. I’m not trying to pick on anyone. I’m as guilty as anyone about this. The first time I realized it was a while back when I was learning to use a labyrinth as a spiritual practice. I don’t know if you’ve ever used a labyrinth, but it’s basically a walking prayer. It’s not a maze. It’s a continuous path. I said “learning to use”, because most people have to try them out a few times before it becomes meaningful....

2 Kings 5:1-14      Galatians 6:1-1 0     Luke 10:1-11, 1 6 Last week we talked about the Mission of God. We talked about Jesus’s laser focus on Jerusalem and the cross, and the empty tomb, and the unleashing of God’s Spirit, and the way it made his responses to those that would follow sound pretty harsh. We also talked about the mission of God today, and we described it as including everyone in the kingdom. Today I want to talk about how we get to the kingdom and what it looks like to be there. I’ve mentioned before how important camp can be in f orming an understanding of the kingdom of God, so I want to take you back to another memory. I was in seminary at the time. I had gone back to serve as the Assistant Director at my Presbytery’s Camp, a place that held formative memories for me. Things were going pretty well. I thought I knew about as much as anyone could about what mattered and how to order programing and worship and provide the t...