Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.             Every scripture reading today has depths to mine and relevance to our lives, but I’ve been excitedly waiting since August, when I sat down to make my seasonal sermon prep chart with notes for all…

Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.     Last week we had the first of three cycles in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus predicts his suffering and resurrection, the disciples misinterpret him, and then he offers a teaching on discipleship. Something to…

Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen. This is the third of twelves weeks of walking chronologically through the Gospel of Mark in our lectionary cycle this fall. Today we hit the middle of Mark’s Gospel – a pivot point – where Jesus predicts…

Gracious God, take our minds and think through them; take our hands and work through them; take our hearts and set them on fire. Amen.   All week long the phrase “Be opened” from today’s Gospel has chased after me.  It is ripe with meaning and possibility, censure and encouragement. And it is the culmination of the two healing stories found in…