Claimed, gathered and sent

These are some thoughts about this Sunday's gospel text that were shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  Gospel: Mark 13:1-8 1 As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”  2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”    3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,  4 “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”  5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray.  6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.  7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.  8 For nation will rise against na...

You know the saying, "You can't go home again"? Well last week we had the privilege of returning to Petersburg, WV, which was our home for a year while I was on internship. We even had the opportunity to stay in the parsonage like we did that year.  Once a year, at a little country church outside of Petersburg, there is a service called Homecoming, which is followed by a pot luck. At the right you see the cover of the bulletin from that service. Each year, a former intern of Pastor Larry Cantu, is the guest preacher for that service. This year I had the privilege. Larry is the pastor of Grace Lutheran Church , which was my internship site. Below is the message I preached based on Ephesians 4:25-5:2 .           How many of us growing up have experienced teasing or even what today would be considered bullying? Inevitably, there would be a parent or some other authority figure like a teacher, when they hear our tale of woe, would r...