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Lent V—April 6, 2014
Preacher: Pastor Angela Freeman
Lessons: Ezekiel 37:1–14 | Psalm 130 | Romans 8:6–11 | John 11:1–45
Summary: In today’s Gospel, Lazarus has died and his sisters are mourning when Jesus arrives. Mary and Martha say that he would have lived if Jesus had been there, and Jesus responds that he is the resurrection and the life. Jesus is talking about life in the present, but all they can see is the closed tomb. We often respond in the same way, but Lazarus—on the other side of the stone—hears Jesus’ voice and comes out of the tomb and they unbind him. My prayer is that each of us can be unbound and set free to live in Christ.
Lent IV—March 30, 2014
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: 1 Samuel 16:1–13 | Psalm 23 | Ephesians 5:8–14 | John 9:1–41
Summary: Today’s Gospel tells how Jesus heals the man born blind, the disciples ask who has sinned, and everyone focuses on the man’s blindness. But when Jesus reveals himself as the one people are seeking, we understand that the man born blind sees both physically and spiritually. We too often focus on people’s maladies and shortcomings, but Jesus calls us see each other and everyone in our communities as children of the light.
Lent III—March 23, 2014
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Exodus 17:1–7 | Psalm 95 | Romans 5:1–11 | John 4:5–42
Summary: In today’s Gospel Jesus asks the Samaritan woman at the well for water, and the encounter leads to a conversation that reveals her history of insecurity. He then reveals the living water that will quench her real thirst. We don’t know what happens in her life after this encounter, except that she shared her story with others and they flocked to Jesus. We each have our own thirsts, and we seek to quench them with stuff of the world that never satisfies. As God provided the people of Israel with water in Exodus, God is near to us with water, wine, bread, community, love, and hope that become our living water.
Lent II—March 16, 2014
Preacher: Pastor Angela Freeman
Lessons: Genesis 12:1–4a | Psalm 121 | Romans 4:1–5, 13–17 | John 3:1–17
Summary: In today’s Gospel Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. He may have felt the need to hide, or he may have come at night because of the way it throws everything into sharp relief, but he came searching for answers. Their conversation contains some of the most significant and confusing questions of our faith. The conversation sets Nicodemus on his journey of transformation. We sometimes need to make our own journeys by night, but as the Psalm tells us, God keeps us on our goings and comings as we journey to Easter.
Lent I—March 9, 2014
Preacher: Pastor Jeff Lilley
Lessons: Genesis 2:15–17; 3:1–7 | Psalm 32 | Romans 5:12–19 | Matthew 4:1–11
Summary: Today’s Gospel lesson follows directly after Jesus’ baptism, which we read on the first Sunday after Epiphany, when the voice of God said, “This is my son.” Jesus has fasted forty days, and Satan tempts him three times. Each time Jesus replies with words from the story of the Exodus in the Hebrew scriptures. It is clear that Jesus is grounded in these words. Too often these days we fall back on words of modern voices that are not able to ground us in times of deep trouble or great joy. The word of God—the first language of our faith—can provide that firm foundation.