Hope Community Presbyterian Church

Isaiah 6:1-8; The Nicene Creed

Isaiah has a profound and overwhelming vision, the kind of experience you can’t share. He despairs of telling about it, knowing that language (especially descriptive language) breaks down in God’s presence. All that’s left is to sing with the angels, “Holy, Holy, Holy!” We’ll sing that too, in a bit – complete with words about the Trinity, the idea that God is three in one. The Trinity is a fascinating idea. It’s never strictly laid out in Scripture, but you can hear echoes of it all over, like echoes of the angels’ song that shook the Temple.

I want to explore that idea today – not so much to explain it as to ponder it – not so much because it makes sense, which it doesn’t exactly – but because it points to the mystery of God. (more…)

Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15

Breathe in, deeply. Breathe out, gently.

Isn’t that incredible? We pull air right out of the space around us, hold it within ourselves for just a few seconds, and release it again. In that moment, the same thing happens inside us that is happening in these candle flames: oxygen in, carbon dioxide out. Without doing that, over and over, none of the rest of this works. And yet, none of us could say just how many times it’s happened since, say, the beginning of worship today. In the last minute? I don’t know. (more…)

Acts 1:1-11; John 17:6-19

Time With Young People

Sunday School ended today. How many days are left in school? (Answer: 7) Let’s think about the last day of school. There’s all kinds of packing up, celebrating the year, and sharing some final ideas. Jesus’ followers had something like that in today’s readings. One reading was on the final night before Jesus’ arrest, and the other was in the final moments before he went up to heaven after the resurrection. Teachers often say the most important things at the very end of the year, so if you’re in school, be sure to listen for them. I suspect that many teachers also say special prayers for their students at the end of the year, so know that those are being offered for you. (more…)

1 John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18

Time With Young People

Have you ever been scared? What are you scared of? Some fears I’ve had include being alone without someone to care about me, losing something special, falling from somewhere high, or embarrassing myself. Other grownup fears include running out of money, losing friends or marriages, getting very sick, or seeing one of their kids get hurt.

Some grownups remember a special Bible prayer when they’re scared: Psalm 23. (more…)

Luke 24:36b-49

There was a dusting of early-season snow in among the trees, a sign that winter was sneaking up on us. The morning was chilly and bright. The early sun poked through the gathering clouds and glinted on the hillsides among long shadows. It was this beautiful light/dark play that can happen so wonderfully at that time of year.

It was November of 2007, and I was riding to preach in Hibbing for the “neutral pulpit” stage in the pastoral search process. (more…)

Acts 4:32-35; John 20:24-29

I’ll beg your pardon here for talking about a Christmas movie during the Easter season, but it’s all one great big story, right? The movie is Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the claymation TV special. Rudolph, you may recall, is ostracized from the reindeer games when his shiny red nose is found out, and he ends up skipping town with Hermy, the Christmas elf who wishes he could be a dentist. They sing a defiant duet called “We’re a Couple of Misfits” and finally end up on the Island of Misfit Toys. This is where all the not-quite-right toys end up. It’s populated by a Charlie-in-the-box, a train with square wheels, and a rag doll that for some reason doesn’t have a girl to love her.

That’s us, isn’t it? (more…)

Mark 16:1-8, 9-20

One of my friends, a pastor (and my fifth-grade Sunday School teacher), posted on Facebook:

I had to laugh when I was asked if we were having church on Christmas day, which fell on a Sunday in 2011, I could give them that as it is a movable day. But, when I was asked if we were having church on Easter Sunday?????? When did that become a movable day? I don’t know…….how about Easter Tuesday?

For the record, we didn’t cancel worship on Christmas Day either, but the reason would have been that many people don’t go to church that day. But Easter? That’s when you do come to church! Canceling church today would be like rescheduling your Super Bowl party on account of the big game.

But then I had a second thought: what if we did cancel church today? (more…)

Reflection on one of Christ’s seven last words, from the community Good Friday service.

John 19:25-27

It would be something of an understatement to say that Jesus had plenty on his mind at this point in the story. He was carrying human sin, divine grief, and his own physical and spiritual pain – and thinking of his mother. Of course we could have known that. (more…)