Rev. Zach

    2 Corinthians 8:7-15      Mark 5:21-43 There are two memories of my first Sunday from eight years ago that I want to share with you today. The first is from the line that forms after worship. A stately gentleman named Joe Clark shook my hand and said, “I can see you standing in that pulpit 10 years from now.” The second is from the reception after church, in which I was surprised to be greeted by a framed picture of my children at the Louisiana welcome center on I-10. The first memory is bittersweet, as many of you know that Joe died a little over a year ago. It was a greater compliment than I realized at the time, and I lament that he will not be here to see that in person. The memory also stands to remind me that we must always have a vision that is beyond our own capacity, and it reminds me of the fear I experienced in hearing his vision for me. I was afraid because the thought of standing in this pulpit for ten years sounded like an expec...

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27     Psalm 130     2 Corinthians 8:7-15     Mark 5:21-43 During the second World War the British government began a campaign to encourage their citizen’s resolve in the war effort. There were a variety of posters with simple messages that all had a drawing of a Tudor era crown above them. The most memorable of them read, “ Keep Calm and Carry On ”. These were all discarded after the war and would’ve been forgotten if a trunkful hadn’t been found, quite by accident, some 40 years later.  At first the phrase was re-introduced as “Keep Calm and Shine On” – a phrase that can mean anything from “be brilliant” to “be deceitful,” depending on which website you trust. Now you can find it on t-shirts, coffee mugs, and bumper stickers with “Keep Calm” followed by anything from “and Carry Guns” to “Presby On.” I’m not too sure about either of those, but given the range of emotion being expressed over current events it seems to me tha...