Psalm 84
John 17:  20-26
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 8, 2016
 
 
TEXT: "Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may
                    be with me where I am,  to see my glory.”                         
                   (John 17:24).

Despite his ongoing financial successes, a businessman was unhappy with the way his life was going.  Consequently, he consulted a pious monk for advice.  "I'm never satisfied!  I feel empty ... unfulfilled!"  To which the holy man replied,
 
"As the fish perishes on dry land, so you perish when you get entangled in the world.  The fish must return to the water -- you must return to solitude."
 
The businessman asked nervously, "You mean I have to go into a monastery?"
 
"No, no," replied the monk.  "Hold onto your business and go into your heart."
 
          In today's Gospel Lesson, Jesus prays, "Father, I desire that those also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am" (Jn. 17:24).  In order to be with Him, we who have been given to Jesus Christ, must go into our hearts.

Psalm 145
Revelation 21:  1-6
John 13:  31-35
Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 24, 2016
 
 
TEXT: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. 
                   Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another."
                    - John 13:34

          In his retirement sermon, a pastor recalled many of the life-enriching events he experienced in his years of parish service.  He especially remembered "A wonderful older woman with a remarkable gift for cheering up whoever came to visit her."  He said, "One day we talked about how we endure and overcome our times of ill-health and loneliness, and she wrote out for me a little poem she had found somewhere, one which became her roadmap for her later years.  This is what she wrote" ...
 
God, keep my heart attuned to laughter when youth is done, when all the days are gray days -- days without the sun. 
 
God keep my heart from bitterness when life seems cold. 
 
Let my heart be filled with laughter in my days of growing old.
 
          Then the pastor added, "That is a lovely prayer that can be answered.   Even in their last days, our lives can have the stamp of joy upon them."

Corinthians 15: 1-11
Psalms 98
John 20:1-18
March 27, 2016
 
TEXT:          "He saw and believed" (John 20:8).

This day, as on every Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus' final victory. We celebrate the fulfillment of His life and ministry, and our fulfillment as a Christian people. The Prince of Peace has conquered, not by the power of the sword, but by the power of love. Easter is the day which puts us at peace with God, at peace with ourselves, at peace with one another, and at peace with the world.
 
When the Christian Martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was in solitary confinement in a Nazi concentration camp, he said he appreciated, as never before, the gift of just being with Christian brothers and sisters; just being together. He said he had a hunger for it that was greater than his intense hunger for food. Now we must hunger to be in a community of peace, in harmony with our brothers and sisters everywhere.
 
We're here to celebrate the Good News of Easter as it's happening now. We're here to rejoice together in the Presence of the Risen, Living Christ now. We're here to celebrate the Good News that death's terror no longer can intimidate or defeat those who live in the Lord by faith.  

Deuteronomy 26:  1-11
Luke 4:  1-13
First Sunday in Lent
February 14, 2016
 
TEXT: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and only Him shall you serve"
                   Luke 4:8

         An American philanthropist went to Israel to inspect several Houses of Worship to which he had been sending contributions. In an obscure corner of Negev he met with the rabbi of an impoverished synagogue. "We need more help," the rabbi pleaded. "This place is falling apart and the congregation is too poor to do anything about it." "Tell me, rabbi, how much do they pay you?" the visitor asked. "Twenty five dollars a month," said the rabbi. "That's all these poor people can afford." "But how do you manage to live on that?" came the next question. "Well, I'm a religious man," said the rabbi, "and if I didn't fast three times a week, I'd starve to death."
 
          Today's Gospel Lesson is the story of that supremely good religious man named Jesus who went into an obscure corner of the desert in Israel where He fasted for forty days without starving to death. "Jesus was led by the Spirit for forty days in the desert," Luke tells us. "He ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended He was hungry."