Summer Lessons from Luke
June 5, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Third Sunday After Pentecost – Proper 5
1 Kings 17:8-24; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17
(Gospel Text provided below)
As you may know, I am one of five kids in my family. Before we came along, my mom was a 3rd grade elementary school teacher while Dad was in law school. By the time Dad finished, they had had their first child and the rest, including me, weren’t far behind! So, when my parents moved back to Houston, my mom stopped teaching… in the classroom at least – she had plenty of her own pupils underfoot!
When we reached elementary school-age, Mom knew from her time as a teacher that it’s hard for kids to retain over the summer what they learned the previous school year. So at the beginning of each summer, she’d load us into the wood-paneled station wagon and we’d head to the Teacher’s Supply Store. Each of us would get two workbooks – one English and one Math – and we’d be expected to spend time each day doing workbook exercises. So, although it was summer break from school, it wasn’t a total break from learning. Read the rest of this entry »
The Gift that Keeps On Giving
May 15, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Day of Pentecost
Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:8-17, 25-27
I’d like to see a show of hands… how many of you have a birthday that falls during the summer months? I have a summer birthday. It’s in late July.
Summer birthdays are different than school-year birthdays. If you were like me, your birthday parties probably had fewer school friends, who were scattered for the summer. Instead, you’d have kids from the neighborhood pool and family. When I was young, I always wanted a school-year birthday because it seemed like they got more attention. I contend this isn’t just true for our personal birthdays, but also for the birthday of the church.
That’s what today is after all – Pentecost Sunday! The Birthday of the Church.
Now, unlike our birthdays which fall on the same date each year, Pentecost falls on different days because it’s always 50 days after Easter and Easter moves around. This year Easter was pretty early, so while Pentecost is usually a summer-birthday-kind-of-day, this year it’s been upgraded to a school-year birthday! So instead of a lot of folks being scattered, we’re all here to celebrate together!
We’ve got our festive red outfits on, our flamed-ribbon-sticks in-hand, a dove flying in the procession, special music – the works! It’s quite a birthday celebration for the Church!
But why is Pentecost considered the birthday of the church?
Hold onto Hope
March 25, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
Good Friday
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Hebrews 10:16-25; John 18:1-19:42; Psalm 22
Today is a dark day. Even when the sun is beaming brightly outside, we draw the shades; we dim the lights; we wear dark clothing; we speak in hushed tones; we kneel before a stripped altar. It is the day of remembering Jesus on the cross. We consider our part in the drama that unfolded thousands of years ago.
When we journey through Holy Week, a week set-apart for remembering, even reenacting, some of the final acts of Jesus – washing the feet of his disciples, sharing the bread and wine at the table, walking the path of the cross to Calvary, and now, knelling at the foot of the cross – it’s easy, even natural, to get caught-up in the darkness of the day. Yet, it is called GOOD Friday for a reason. Although it may not seem like it to others looking in, it’s a day that holds in it great HOPE.
Discern Care – Fully
March 13, 2016
Christ Church Episcopal, Norcross, GA
5th Sunday in Lent
Isaiah 43:16-21; Philippians 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8
(Gospel text is provided at the bottom of this post)
Have you ever been out to dinner with a group of friends you’ve known for a long time, or with family, and someone starts telling a story about a shared experience that happened years earlier? You get excited because it was such a special adventure that you’ll never forget! 
Then, as the story unfolds, there are variations in the storyteller’s version that don’t quite match your memory of what happened. Some of the details seem okay, but other aspects, like who actually did or said certain things, or when it happened in relation to other life-events, seem out of line. And while it isn’t exactly how you remember it, the teller is so sure of their version that there’s really no use in arguing about it. It’s their reality, after all.
We see those same kinds of variations in Biblical stories, including today’s gospel reading from John. While this story about the anointing of Jesus appears in each of the four gospels, they don’t all match up. For many people it can be confusing to have these different versions of the same story. When there are inconsistencies, it can create doubt about the validity of any of it!
jodygreenwood 