Presby-Musings

This week we are going to continue our Lenten sermon series--a series entitled "RE:"  "RE:" is drawn from the Latin prefix that denotes change or transformation.  Each of the sermons in this series is connected to a practice for the season of Lent:  Remember, Repent, Renew, Remain and Restore.  This week we are going to explore the Lenten practice of restoration, which I believe is at the very heart of what God is up to in the world.  Restoration is the act of taking what seems broken, used up, neglected, forgotten and making it new.  In fact, that's the one thing I want to make sure that we hang on to when we all walk away from worship this morning: Restoration is God's way of getting what God wants.   The passage of Scripture that we'll be studying today is from the prophet Isaiah chapter 43.  It is a passage of Scripture that the renowned Hebrew scholar Abraham Heschel held in highest esteem as an unbelievable word of hope.  He wr...

This week I am continuing the sermon series that we’re going to be working through together for the season of Lent, a series entitled “RE.”  “Re” is a Latin prefix that denotes change or transformation, and each of the sermons in this series begin with that transformative prefix, and they also are connected to a Lenten practice that I’m challenging us to take up during this season of Lent.  As we learned last week, Lent gets its name from the Latin word for “forty.”  Excluding Sundays there are forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter.  Forty is a number that is often used in the Bible to indicate a time of trial, testing or refinement.  The idea behind the five practices that we’re going to be challenged to take up is connected to this notion—that hroughout the season of Lent we are going to be challenged and tested as we seek to draw closer to Jesus during this symbolic journey with him to the Cross.   During this series we’re going to learn wha...