Birth Pangs: A sermon on Romans 8:18-39 prepared by Michelle Ellis, Oct. 18, 2020
The text we read opens by taking about what we suffer now. I’d like to sit together a moment and name some of the things that we’ve suffered together this year. We’ve journeyed and continue to journey through COVID time. Also, as more and more stories come to light about racial injustice in our world we journey through disillusionment, grief, desire for our world to reflect God’s kingdom more closely. Then there are the sufferings specific to each one of us. We’ve seen declin
An Interpersonal Parable: based on Matthew 15:11-32 by Joe Ellis, Oct. 4, 2020
This parable starts out with the youngest son coming up to his Father saying. , “I want you dead.” Well he doesn’t quite come out and says it quite that bluntly, but when a son to come up and ask for an inheritance in advance of his father’s death, its pretty much the same thing. What’s odd is the father doesn’t tell his kid to get lost, he doesn’t rebuke the ungrateful little brat. Instead, he splits up his property between his two kids, and hands over to them their inherita