"They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise...

(Jesus) asked them, “But who do you say that I am?”—Mark 8:29 I’ve had a lot of nicknames in my life. Some that stuck with me for a while and others that were used for a week at camp. My High School Social Studies teacher called me Buffalo Guy. My name in German Class...

“Did you wash your hands? With Soap?—mom” Our kids should be old enough by now but we have this sign hanging in our downstairs bathroom. After five Sundays in John’s Gospel focused on Jesus as the “bread of life.” We return to Mark’s Gospel and we step into...

Alleluia. Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia If you sang the above words to the tune from the LBW, Setting 2, you might be a church nerd like I am. Sometimes, I am surprised when a memory triggers and I am taken back to Pioneer...

"Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink." ~John 6:54-55 You are what you eat. I've been trying to convince my pickiest eater that his best path to his...

(From the Gr. leitourgia “work of the people”) The service of God offered by the people of God in divine worship.—From the Westminster Dictionary of Theological Terms On a typical Sunday morning, my focus is pulled in many directions. If I’m preaching, I prepare for...

Caring for a newborn is not usually complicated; it’s just constant. There are only a handful of possible problems when Abel fusses. Once we’ve exhausted the list of possible solutions, one last trick often works for him: lay him down and leave him alone, preferably...

"He rained down on them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven." ~Psalm 78:24 "What is it?" my children occasionally ask as dinner is set before them. Last night, Andrea had made goulash. The name alone can spark disgust in a child. The sight is not much...

Just when you (or maybe just me) may have felt like you were settling into the pace and style of Mark’s Gospel, we will be jumping back into John’s Gospel for the next five weeks. The next four weeks focus on Jesus as the “Bread of Life.” I’ve been trying to come up...

"[Jesus] said to them, 'Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.' For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat." ~ Mark 6:31 You've likely noticed how the same scripture, heard in a different context or at a different...