Rev. Zach

Psalm 23 Mark 12:28-34 Last Sunday we began with praise from a member for the courage that it took to continue meeting, and he reminded us to put our trust in the Lord without fear. Our scriptures affirmed that claim, but they also reminded us that true worship is not in a place but rather it is a spiritual reality that we embrace and move into together. That’s the space that we are in today as we worship together online, in spirit and truth. In that space, we are confronted with all we have done and with all that we are. In that space, we are confronted with Jesus, the one who has just cleansed the temple! After clearing out the money changers and absolutely breaking down the normal pattern of worship he sat down to teach them what it meant to live worshipful lives. It was a custom in those days for those present to ask a question after the reading of the Tora or in reference to it. There would often be a discussion. Sometimes it was a little more like a Bible study than what w...

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16     Romans 4:13-25     Mark 8:31-38 I imagine that if I were to ask you what you think of when I say the word, “hack,” you might come up with a variety of things.  You might say an imposter, a cheat, or – if your vocabulary is really fancy – a charlatan.  Of course, these days the word hack is most likely used when talking about computers.  Hearing that might make you think of one of the great the boogey men of our day – identity theft. Although you may think of computer hacking as some nefarious person sneaking in through the internet and robbing you blind, there is a lot more to it than that.  Hacking has become a more general term for any kind of rule bending and out of the box thinking that you can come up with.  It is not good, nor is it bad.  It just is. Take video gaming as an example.  For those of you who do not know, in the world of video games – which is a multibillion dollar indust...