Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
Sunday, February 12, 2023
By: Deacon Ben Remmert

Lord, open my mouth to speak your truth and our ears to hear it. Amen.

This past Friday my children’s preschool was having a science fair and to my surprise our son was so excited to attend and see each different experiment on fire and smoke. Hearing this excitement from Asher made me reflect on my childhood. I remember receiving a science kit for my ninth birthday from my uncle. It contained some ingredients so I could conduct simple experiments at home. The kit also came with a simple microscope. The microscope came with a slide, and you could put things from simple tap water to leaves on the slide and look at it under the scope. One recommendation was to put some onion skin under the scope. We had an onion in the house and so we did that. I was completely unprepared for what I was about to behold. Seeing the structure of the individual cells took my breath away. Who knew that such delicate structures were present in these simple onion skins?

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A time for peace
Candlemass, Series A
2/5/2023
Malachi 3:1-4; Psalm 84; Hebrews 2:14-18; Luke 2:22-40
Rev. Sergio Rodriguez

“At that moment she [Anna] came, and began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem (Lk 2:38).”

Rachel McWhirter, our Director of Digital Ministry, and I had such a moment last week when we attended a World Interfaith Harmony week at First Lutheran Church in Galveston. Hindus, Buddhists, Orthodox, Jewish folks, and Lutherans. We listened to each other for a moment to speak about our deepest convictions about the peace which the world can not give. Our keynote speaker, one Father Thomas Colyando, kicked off this year’s gathering entitled, Inner Peace to Interpersonal Harmony, with this insight about peace. It is an insight that Simeon and Anna shared and from which they, “looked forward to the consolation of Israel (Lk 2:25b).” The human being possesses a heart. Simple enough. In this heart, we experience all kinds of yearns and churnings, hopes and joys, passions, and desires. For us to experience peace, the inner light of God, the uncreated Light that is God, Father, Son, and Spirit, needs to shine upon us. When God shines, inner peace comes alive. This transformation filters out what distracts us, and distills peace. This transformation allows us then to bring transformative peace to our homes, friends, and society.

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4th Sunday after Epiphany
January 29, 2023
By: Deacon Ben Remmert
Micah 6:1-8 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12

Grace and Peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus who is the great teacher. Amen.

On these rainy days, it has been a wonderful opportunity to play boardgames with my children. This week, I reflected on the games that I would played as a child and one game in particular that we would play is the game Balderdash? It’s a game where you guess the meaning of obscure words. Take the word “pleach” what does it mean:

1) a peach scented bleach
2) the curved handle of a plough
3) the interweaving of tree branches

The correct answer is # 3. Pleach is the interweaving of tree branches.

The Bible and Bible commentaries would be a good source for Balderdash. After all, words like “eschatology”, and “transubstantiation” aren’t used in everyday conversation. Beatitudes is another word that would work well in Balderdash as we often do not use it in everyday language. Biblical scholars would consider this passage in a collection called, “The canon within the canon.” They mean that these verses speak to us can summarize entire good news of the Bible. Another example of such verse is John 3:16, “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” This verse proclaims the gospel message so simply but profoundly.

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