Whether we think we are too young or too old, sometimes God calls us to do things or go places that don’t make sense to our human understanding.  In these cases, we have to step out in faith trusting that the God who calls will also equip us and go with us as we go.  Both Abraham and Sarah wrestled with their age as they wrestled with God’s call and promise that they would be parents to the nations. 

Today we consider the Old Testament prophet Jonah and how he wrestled with bringing the Gospel to a people he considered unworthy of God’s favor.  We see how the consequence of his disobedience not only affected him but also unbelievers in his midst.  It is also Pentecost when we celebrate the sending of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ disciples who were then empowered to take this Gospel to every tribe and nation around the world.  

Doubting Thomas is a disciple of Jesus that often gets a bad rap.  And yet I think Thomas bravely asks questions that many of us are afraid to ask. “We don’t know where you are going. How can I believe in Jesus’ resurrection without seeing the proof?”   Wrestling with faith and doubt is deeply interconnected with our wrestling with God.  This may not a losing of faith, but a maturing journey that many faithf

There are numerous examples in scripture of Godly people who were fearful of what God had called them to do or to say.  Jeremiah the Prophet was one of them.  Though he was young and inexperienced, God called him to warn his people of some pretty hard stuff.   If fear is a natural response to an external threat that may hurt or harm us, how do we handle it and act accordingly as a people of hope.  That is what we address today in our ser

Part of our wrestling with God often comes from attending to the unending needs of the world that surround us.  The world may tell us that we must work 24 hours a day, seven days a week to fill all those needs.  On the contrary Jesus, who was fully God and fully human, calls us to put down those needs at least one day a week to rest so that we can be refilled and ready to serve again.    

Author Philip Yancey in his book Disappointment with God raises three questions that most people think but no one dares asks aloud as they wrestle with God amidst grief.  Is God unfair? Is God silent? And is God hidden?  These are the questions we will attempt to answer as we look at Mary and Martha’s grief upon the sudden loss of their brother Lazarus.  

Sometimes we think that the disciples immediately after Jesus’ resurrection were full of joy and hope.  But the truth is that many disciples struggled with fear and doubt, wrestling with God and what God was doing in their world.  They had entered what is known as the dark night of the soul where God seems absent and unconcerned with our daily struggles. 

People have marveled about life after death since the beginning of time.  In fact, there have been many beliefs from many faith traditions over the ages.  But nothing beats the life after death story like Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Not only does Jesus’ comeback story give us hope that we too will live after we die, but it gives us strength and courage to face whatever we may in life as well.    

Jesus’ final entry into Jerusalem was like none other. Unlike past war hero and political activists, he chose not to display his power and might by riding in on a war stallion, but his humility and gentleness by riding in on a donkey. For someone who had healed the sick, made the lame walk, calmed stormy seas, fed thousands from almost nothing, and raised the dead to life, this was not what the people wanted nor expected. No! They wanted

Jesus’ call to serve others is compelling and many people throughout the ages have done a great job of doing just that.  But we can’t serve in the way that Jesus expects unless we also step away from that service and be filled with the Holy Spirit through rest, rejuvenation and time sitting at Jesus’ feet.  In today’s story, we see Mary and Martha, who together set the example of how to be true servants of Jesus Christ.