Psalm 4 | 1 John 3:1-7 | Luke 24:36-48

Jeremy Richards

Our Gospel reading this morning begins with disbelief. Most of the disciples do not yet believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead. While many modern day churches want to get to Easter as quickly as possible – want to celebrate the resurrection and leave behind Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday – the early followers of Jesus weren’t so quick to celebrate Easter. They found it too good to be true. They didn’t believe so easily.

Isaiah 25:6-9  | Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 | Acts 10:34-43 | Mark 16:1-8

Jeremy Richards

Brie and my first vacation as a married couple was to Yosemite National Park. We went in the spring, when it wasn’t peak tourist season, but we never would have guessed that. We had to book our campsite months ahead of time, and it seemed that no matter where we went in the valley there were crowds everywhere. The hikes were still fun and the views breathtaking, but it was hard to get a photo without 2 or 3 other people showing up in the background.

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 | Mark 11:1-11

Jeremy Richards

Our reading today tells the story of Jesus’ “triumphal entry,” which is celebrated every Palm Sunday. Jesus arrives in Jerusalem as a king, albeit a humble king. As Jesus descends the Mount of Olives on the back a young donkey, he is greeted by a group of “many people” who spread cloaks and leafy branches on the ground ahead of him, and they cry out “Hosanna (which means “God save us”)! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Hosanna in the highest heaven!” It’s not hard to see why this is referred to as a “triumphal entry.” Everything’s “coming up Jesus” in this story – from the free colt to the cloaks spread across the road to the shouts of Hosanna, this is triumphal.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 | Psalm 51:1-12 | John 12:20-33

Jeremy Richards

One day in the year 1895, Wilhelm Roentgen, a little known professor of physics at the University of Wurzburg in Germany, was doing some experiments, as scientists tend to do. Roentgen was playing around with electrical currents, passing them through vacuum tubes. He noticed that the currents caused a fluorescent screen across the room to light up, despite the fact that there was a cardboard barrier between them.

Numbers 21:4-9 | Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 | Ephesians 2: 1-10 | John 3:14-21

Jeremy Richards

Today we hear one of the most famous verses in Scripture, if not the most famous verse in Scripture: John 3:16. Many of you know it I’m sure. If you do, say it with me now: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This verse has become so rote that we probably don’t even stop to think about what it says.

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16 | Psalm 22:23-31 | Mark 8:31-38

Jeremy Richards

“WWJD? – What would Jesus do?” Back in the 90s or early 2000s this question was all the rage in Christian circles, and even outside of Christian circles. This questions was popularized in a number of ways, but none more prominent than in little, colorful bracelets with “WWJD?” on them. Do you remember those?

Genesis 9:8-17 | Psalm 25:1-10 | 1 Peter 3:18-22 | Mark 1:9-15

Jeremy Richards

In our passage from Mark today, we’re going back to the beginning. We’ve already heard of Jesus calling his disciples, and casting out a demon in a synagogue, but now we’re going back to the beginning, to the first time Jesus appears on the scene in Mark’s Gospel.

2 Kings 2:1-12 | Psalm 50:1-6 | 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 | Mark 9:2-9

Jeremy Richards

The book Gilead by Marilyn Robinson is a fictional account of the life of the Congregationalist Minister John Ames. The book is written as a series of letters from the old John Ames to his young 7-year-old son. Ames, who had the child late in his life, knows he will soon die of a heart condition and won’t be there for most of his son’s life. The letters are an attempt to put down in writing the important family stories and life lessons Ames has learned over the course of his long life, since he’ll be unable to convey these lessons and stories to his son after he dies.

Isaiah 40:21-31 | Psalm 147:1-11, 20c | 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 | Mark 1:29-39

Jeremy Richards

Our Gospel reading today picks up right after our Gospel reading from last week, which, if you weren’t here or you don’t remember, was about Jesus preaching in a synagogue and then casting out a demon. These two passages – the one from last week and the one for today – cover one 24-hour period of time.

Deuteronomy 18:15-20 | Psalm 111 | 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 | Mark 1:21-28

Jeremy Richards

The New Testament scholar Joel Marcus (one of Mitch’s favorite professors in seminary) says in his commentary on Mark that every Gospel writer has a story early in their Gospel that is meant to set the stage for what they want to say about Jesus. According to Joel Marcus, in Matthew it’s the Sermon on the Mount, in Luke it’s Jesus’ sermon in the synagogue in Nazareth, and in John it’s the wedding feast in Cana. And in Mark, Joel Marcus says, it’s the story we read today.