On Sunday I will begin a new sermon series on the book of Exodus. Exodus tells the story of Moses who is to the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) what Jesus is to the New Testament: the dominating figure, the man whose story must be...
Forty is an important number in the Bible. In the story of Noah, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses led the Israelites through the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus spent 40 days in the desert being tested and later, he appeared to...
Have you ever had a day that goes nothing at all like you planned? Not a single thing that you thought you were going to accomplish gets done. At bedtime, your “to do” list looks exactly like it did at breakfast. That’s the kind of...
This Sunday is Mother’s Day. I doubt it could have slipped your mind, as the greeting card companies and florists spend a lot of advertising dollars making sure we don’t forget it. But, just in case, consider yourself duly notified. There are a lot of reasons...
As is our custom, the Sunday after Easter is Be the Kingdom Sunday at Calvary. The entire church gathers for worship at the normal time and place, but then disperses in groups to serve our community. We worship that day by being the church, being...
Over the past several months, we have been introducing four “keys” to nurturing the faith of your children and grandchildren. Experts in the field of faith development have honed in on four practices that, when embedded into your family’s routines, will help parents to notice...
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! We had a glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection on Easter Sunday, and I trust yours was, too. The sanctuary was beautifully adorned with Easter lilies, spring bulbs in pink, purple and yellow bloom, and white paraments—cloth coverings for the...
As I sit at my desk writing and working this morning, I hear our church organist in the background practicing for Sunday’s Easter service. If you can’t be inspired by the strains of Jesus Christ Is Risen Today, Thine Is the Glory, and The Hallelujah...
In three days the Church will celebrate Palm Sunday which launches us into Holy Week. Holy Week, in turn, propels us through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday to the pinnacle of the church year, Easter Sunday. I love Easter, and I am particularly...
On Sunday I have the unenviable task of preaching about the torture and humiliation that Jesus endured as he neared his death on the cross. The purpose of crucifixion—Rome’s “go to” method of execution for would-be “messiahs”—wasn’t just to kill the victim. It was to...