Rev Chris Roth

         Matthew 17          Mark 9          Luke 9   Sometimes our ideas of who someone  is can overshadow the person . Sometimes we think we know someone well, but then we get new information that is hard to fit with our idea of who that person is. Maybe we find out the person has tattoos, or has been to jail. Sometimes our prejudice can cause us to be surprised when we learn that our cab driver actually has a PhD in Neurobiology. Our perceptions can sometimes overshadow the person.             Something similar happened to the Apostle Peter, who is often the spokesperson for the disciples. Just before our Gospel reading today (ch 9:18) we witness an interesting conversation between Jesus and the disciples. They are walking along the road and Jesus turns to his disciples and asks them "who do people say that the son of man is?" They ...

1 Cor 13:1-13- Love http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20cor%2013&version=NIV             Sometimes we hear something so often that we stop hearing it. The words stop having meaning, or they have less of an effect on us.  When Crystal and I were first dating the words "I love you" had an incredible echo that just hung in the air for weeks. Now we can shoot those words as we walk out the door and we hardly remember if we said them. It's not that those words don't have any meaning for us, it's just that we are so used to the words that they don't ring in our ears the way they used to.               Something similar can happen when we mention the word "love" in Church. We say "love God";  "Love your neighbour"; or even "love your enemy" and the words sometimes seem to not have any weight- Probably because they are so familiar. So we read 1...

Epiphany- Matt 2:1-12        http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt%202&version=NIV            It is a strange and mysterious passage that is only mentioned by the Gospel of Matthew. Men came to Palestine from somewhere in the East- perhaps Persia, or Arabia, or maybe somewhere else. We don’t know.           The men who come are equally mysterious (were they all men?). They were not kings according to Matthew. They were not Jews. They were probably gentiles. They are called “Magi” in the plural, but “Magus” in the singular. It is a word that that has a few definitions and can refer to a practitioner of occult magic arts, to someone who would divine the future, to an interpreter of dreams (like the O.T. prophet Daniel), or to those who study the night sky. A magus was a mysterious person, with mysterious knowledge of things hidden to ordinary people. It is from the Greek word magus that w...

The Grinch hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season! Now, Please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason. It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right. It could be, perhaps, that his shoes were too tight. But I think that the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small. But, Whatever the reason, His heart or his shoes, he stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Whos,             Christmas seems to always include a Grinch. There is always someone who just doesn't get caught up in the season. The decorations are offensive to their eyes. The music annoys them. They feel busier than they want to be. There are more people in the stores. There is no parking. The streets are slippery.  And, they are resentful at the social pressure to conform to the season.  In response to "Merry Christmas" inwardly they "Bah Humbug".      ...

Second Sunday in Advent- Malachi 3:1-4 3:1 See, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple. The messenger of the covenant in whom you delight--indeed, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. 3:2 But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap; 3:3 he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the descendants of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, until they present offerings to the LORD in righteousness. 3:4 Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the LORD as in the days of old and as in former years. Luke 3:1-6 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius , when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 3:2 during the hig...

  Before I begin, I just want to say that not everyone is going to agree with what I'm about to say.   I hope that if anything I say bothers you that we can have a conversation. This goes for all my sermons actually. You can disagree with me.             I find Remembrance Day to be a difficult day, which is probably how it should be. This morning I would like to share a bit of that struggle.   I think it is important to remember those who have suffered in war. It is important to remember the high cost of war- then and now. It is important to remember how fragile peace can be. It is important to remember the monsters that live inside of us. It is important to remember those who risked their lives trying to do something about suffering because to sit back and do nothing was a worse evil. Remembrance Day is also a day to remember Jesus' words to us about violence and about how we are to treat our enemies. ...