Rev. Zach

Exodus 33:12-23 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 ; Matthew 22:15-22 Let’s talk about the active presence of God. One of the recurring confessions that I have heard through the years from people of faith is the fact that many of us do not feel that we have experienced the active presence of God. The first time I received such a confession was in 1998. I led a spiritual retreat for some college students for my Presbytery of origin in Georgia. I was still in seminary and kind of new at the game, but it seemed to go pretty well. We were cleaning up after ourselves at the retreat center and one of the students pulled me aside. He said, “I really enjoyed the retreat, but you talked a lot about experiencing God’s presence and I don’t think I have. I want to, but I’m not sure I can. I believe in God, but I just feel like a hypocrite or like something’s wrong with me.” We talked a little about what some may call “Imposter’s Syndrome” – that feeling like you are just pretending because you don’t underst...

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 ; Philippians 3:4b-14 ; Matthew 21:33-46 Last week we talked about our partners in Cuba and the witness we share with them. We talked about Paul’s encouragement to have the same mind as Christ and to be willing to give ourselves over in sacrificial love for one another, and we talked about the way that Jesus called out – and calls out – religious leaders who do not practice what they preach. I know I said it before, but I want to remind you once more that Jesus is saying all these things during what we think of as Holy Week. Just the day before, he entered Jerusalem with shouts of “Hosannah!” and cleared the money changers from the temple. He’s done some teaching and healing, and he came back the next day. He started his day by cursing a fig tree for denying him breakfast – which seemed weird – but that precedes two parables about bearing fruit and some say that Matthew was making a point beyond assessing the hangriness of Jesus. We talked about the first par...

Exodus 17:1-7 ; Philippians 2:1-13 ; Matthew 21:23-32 Beloved, I have just spent the most amazing week with our mission partners from the Cuba Partner Network of the Presbytery of South Louisiana and the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba ! I can’t thank you enough for allowing me the time and for the donations of OTC medicines, crafts for Sunday School, and supplies for jewelry making. A lot of these items also came from our neighbors in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation. In case you did not see it in the email, I want to assure you that Pastor Josué inventoried and appreciated every item. He assured us of the care that would be taken in distributing these items and made sure to safeguard them. I can also tell you that even though each item was received with joy, the things that will help them care for their children had a special weight. Feathers, foamboard, and glue are hard to come by. Stickers and ribbons are rare. Before we left New Orleans, Pastor Josué messaged us th...