4 Lent.B.24
Numbers 21:4-9
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

The Book of Numbers is comprised of a wide assortment of stories, laws, poetry, and ancient texts, including tales of talking donkeys, a surfeit of quails and a priestly blessing. Today we are gifted with one of the oddest stories of them all—what I like to refer to as “The Snake on a Stick”.

3 Lent.B.24
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

One of the dangerous things about spending so much time in church, is that it is easy to begin to think it all makes sense: the passion, death and resurrection of Christ. The cross.

2 Lent.B.24
Mark 8:31-38 (Annual Address)
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

This morning, following our 10:00 a.m. worship service, we will hold our Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting is an opportunity to reflect on the past year, but also a chance look forward to where the Holy Spirit is guiding us in the months and years to come. You can read my report about 2023 in the Annual Report, available following the service. Therefore, today I would like to speak to you about the year ahead. But first, I’d like for us to take a look at the Gospel lesson appointed for this morning.

1 Lent.B.24
Genesis 9:8-17; Mark 1:9-15
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

In a strange sense, the lessons today remind me of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. However, our theme this First Sunday of Lent, is not porridge, but water. Too Much, Not Enough and Just Right. The flood, the desert and the baptism of our Lord.

Ash Wednesday.B.24
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

5 Epiphany.B.24
Isaiah 40:21-31
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

2 Epiphany.B.24
Samuel 3:1-20
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

Epiphany.B.24
Matthew 2:1-12
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

Welcome to Epiphany Sunday! No Christmas pageant ever seems fully complete until the Wise Men make their appearance, arriving at the stable, bearing gifts for the infant Christ. It’s tempting to think of today as the completion of the Pageant—the end of the Christmas story. It looks so cozy, doesn’t it, with those wise men in the stable—offering their gifts, gazing at the manger and adoring this child who will be king—with Mary and Joseph, and some farm animals looking protectively on.

Eve of the Nativity.B.23
Luke 2:1-14
The Rev. Melanie McCarley

2 Advent.B.23
Mark 1:1-8
The Rev. Melanie McCarley