If for This Life Only
If for This Life Only —– Easter Day —– April 17, 2022 Acts 10: 34-43 ———- John 20: 1-18 ———– Pastor Pat Mecham Many of you know the name of William Paul Young, or you’re at least familiar with his book, The Shack, which was a runaway best-seller back in 2008. It’s a story of a man who has suffered some pretty severe ordeals, and then gets to know God in a very personal manner. What you might not know…
What Kind of King?!
April 14, 2022……….Maundy Thursday……….Pastor Pat Mecham On Palm Sunday, we explored what it means that “The King Is Coming!” Tonight, I want to focus on the question, “What kind of king?” To begin to answer that question, I would like you to help me out. I want you to imagine that you have a disgusting task to do, like cleaning out the cat box, or whatever it is that makes you make a face like this. Imagine that task, then…
The King Is Coming!
April 10, 2022……….Palm Sunday……….Pastor Pat Mecham Philippians 2: 5-11; Luke 19; 28-40 When I was a kid, two of my very favorite people were my Uncle Ozzie and Aunt Deede. I have a very vivid memory of anticipation–being excited about their arrival for a visit. I climbed up into the big willow tree in our front yard so that I could look ‘way down the street, keeping my eyes peeled for their little Volkswagen Beetle. I was so eager for…
Don’t Be Denied
April 3, 2022………..5th Sunday in Lent………….Pastor Pat Mecham Psalm 126; Philippians 3: 4b-14; John 12: 1-8 Hello. My name is Lazarus. You probably remember me because Jesus brought me back from the dead. Now, that was pretty spectacular, but I want to share with you the tremendous impact that Jesus had on my whole family—especially my sisters, Mary and Martha. I guess I ought to start with Mary, because she’s the one who introduced us to Jesus in the first…
Reconciled
March 27, 2022———-4th Sunday in Lent Psalm 32; 2 Corinthians 5: 16-21; Luke 15: 1-32 Dale was a proud man, a man who was glad that his grown kids had settled in the same area, a man who was happiest when his whole (large) family gathered around the table for a meal. But Dale had a problem. His teenaged grandson had acted in a way that he considered to be extremely disrespectful, and he had called him on it. The…
Should We Get What We Deserve?
March 20, 2022———–3rd Sunday in Lent————Rev. Bob Kelley 1 Corinthians 10: 1-13; Luke 13: 1-9 Luke 13: 1-9 Karma, we all know what it is, and most of us pretty much believe in it. And karma tells us, that in life, we are generally going to get what is coming to us. If we are good, God will bless us, and if we are bad God will get us. If not now, then when we die. And we think…
Don’t Be “Detoured”
March 13, 2022———–2nd Sunday in Lent Philippians 3: 17 – 4: 1; Luke 13: 31-35 I have heard it said that life is a journey—and that it’s the journey itself more than the destination that is important and significant—and that sometimes the detours are actually part of God’s plan, and are significant waypoints on the path God means for us. I agree with this view…mostly. When the detours take us from the path we have selected for ourselves, and the…
Discerning the Path
March 6, 2022——–1st Sunday in Lent Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Luke 4:1-13 Remember the old days when you had a trip coming up, and you would get out the old folding maps and make a plan for how you were going to get from here to there? Those of us who love MAPS always cherished that particular activity! But now we have a GPS on our phones, and we simply type in our destination and we see two or three…
Sanctified or Sanctimonious?
March 2, 2022—–Ash Wednesday Psalm 51: 1-17; Matthew 6: 1-6; 16-21 I was driving our daughter, Erin, to school one day, and she was reviewing her vocabulary lesson. “Dad,” she asked, “What does sanctimonious mean?” Well, sanctimonious is a word I am familiar with, and I have seen it used numerous times (though I don’t believe I have ever used it!), but I could not think of a way to define it. She had, in her lesson, some definitions from…
Truth to the Modern World
2 Corinthians 3:12 – 4:2—————–Luke 9: 28-43a February 27, 2022————————Rev. Patrick Mecham Transfiguration There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in which Harry stumbles upon a magic mirror. When he stands directly in front of the mirror, he sees his parents standing behind him, smiling at him. His parents are no longer living, having died when he was only a toddler, so he loves looking into this mirror and being a part of a real…
Healing in Forgiveness
Genesis 45: 3-11, 15—————1 Corinthians 15: 35-38, 42-50 Luke 6: 27-38 February 20, 2022——————-7th Sunday after Epiphany Rev. Patrick Mecham There has been a lot of talk about healing and health—probably since the beginning of humanity. This has been especially true living through this pandemic! But in recent years, there have been some amazing discoveries. One of these is that our HEALTH is not just a matter of the physical body—it includes so many more facets. One major factor in…
Those Who Trust in the Lord
Psalm 1—————1 Corinthians 15: 12-20—————Luke 6: 17-26 February 13, 2022—————Rev. Patrick Mecham Sixth Sunday after Epiphany Happy are those who trust in the Lord. It’s kind of a basic concept in our faith, isn’t it? I remember seeing a skit back in college where a student gets on an elevator and sees a friend and starts telling them about the new spiritual insight they had recently gleaned: TRUST IN THE LORD! “Oh, my life has become so much more peaceful…