Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: John 8:2-11

Sermon audio:

One of the things I love about being a pastor is the variety of very different things I am able to do over the course of a week. I am by turns a worship planner, pastoral caregiver, staff supervisor, building coordinator, teacher, preacher, digital evangelist, community representative, public advocate, and even a periodic email-answerer! This Christian calling—for everyone and not just pastors—invites us to use every possible opportunity we have to show Christ-like mercy and transformative justice, both within and beyond our congregation. Continue reading “Love Forgives and Starts Anew” →

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: John 10:1-18

Sermon audio:

Before the Christmas program a couple months ago, one of our youngsters proudly pointed out that she changed roles this year. She described what she clearly considered a promotion. For the past several years, she has been a sheep. But this year, Miss Maggie was a shepherd! And who knows—next year, maybe an angel. And the year after that, Mary? At least she wouldn’t have to be a sheep any longer—that was for baby children who couldn’t do anything else.

Continue reading “Love Shelters and Gives Life” →

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: John 15:1-17

Sermon audio:

Javen and I have made a couple mistakes with our little rosebud tree. A few years ago, we decided to replant the gardens around our house, and our biggest investment was a dwarf rosebud tree next to the front entrance. It’s not supposed to get more than 8 feet tall, with fluttering heart-shaped leaves and sweet little pink buds that come out early in the spring. But in the last several years, we realize we still planted it too close to the house foundation. It’s not able to thrive if the roots are cramped against the concrete, not given room to grow. Also, the tree had misshapen leaves throughout the entire last season. We recently got the results of a test back, and it appears that mites had infested the tree. These little mites are smaller to see than aphids, but they had sucked out all the sap leading to the leaves, leaving the leaves cupped and unable to bend open or soak up the light. Our sweet tree is a pitiful shadow of what it could be, judging from the advertised pictures when we bought it.

Continue reading “Abide in My Love” →

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: John 9:1-41

Sermon audio:

A company called Second Sight has been working for years on technology that gives sight to the blind. The model they are testing has cameras implanted in a pair of glasses. Images are then wirelessly broadcast to a receiver that’s implanted in the surface of the eye, which sends them through the retina to the brain. Those who once were blind are now able to see—well enough to go skiing, take up archery, and move around at will.

Continue reading “Come and See” →

Edina Morningside Community Church

Today’s scripture reading: John 4:1-42

Sermon audio:

We start today with a puzzle of biblical geography. John’s gospel says that Jesus had to go through Samaria, but that’s just not the case. In the last chapter, Jesus was in Jerusalem and had that midnight conversation with the Jewish leader Nicodemus. Now we’re told that he leaves Judea and goes north again to Galilee. Any reasonable traveler between those two regions would have used either the coastal route along the Mediterranean, or the inland route along the Jordan River. Both are well-established paths of trade and travel, easier to navigate than the high hill country between them and to the east, which was Samaria. So when John writes that Jesus “had to go through Samaria”, that’s like a travel agent sending you from Minneapolis to Duluth, through Fargo. Something else is afoot. If Jesus does have to go through Samaria, it’s because of who he will meet there.

Continue reading “Come and See as Jesus Sees” →