Jesus Saves

Colossians 1:1-14

Jeremy Richards 

A couple of weeks ago, I officiated the wedding of Brie’s cousin Harry and his wife Laura in Rhode Island. It was a beautiful wedding right on the ocean. Harry and Laura aren’t especially religious, so I went pretty light on the religious stuff, but, at one point, while equating love to the vast ocean the ceremony took place beside, I couldn’t help interjecting a bit of religion in there. I said, “I am a Baptist preacher, so I can’t resist reminding us that God created all the cosmos out of love, that we are made in and for love, that God, our divine Parent, the one we are made in the image of, is love.”

God of the Little People

2 Kings 5:1-15a

Jeremy Richards 

Audio recording: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/07-07-19-god-of-the-little-people-jeremy-richards/id1479727299?i=1000453223508

On Wednesday, Randy and I went to a local sports bar and watched the US women’s national soccer team take on England. After scoring the second goal for the United States, the goal that would ultimately win them the game, Alex Morgan stopped, stood still and took an imaginary sip of tea, poking fun at her English opponents. This, of course, caused Twitter to blow up, supporters loved it, while opponents hated it. Most notably, the British broadcaster Piers Morgan took issue and responded with some aggressive tweets, calling for the English team to put Morgan and the US team in their place. The tweets took off, and last time I looked one had over 2,400 comments, 289 retweets, and 2,200 likes. Unfortunately for Piers Morgan, England did not put the US in their place, and the Twitter world descended on Piers Morgan like a pack of wolves on an injured deer. Multiple articles have been written showcasing the best responses to Piers Morgan’s tweets.

The Everywhere Temple

Acts 16:9-15 | Rev. 21:10, 22-22:5

Jeremy Richards

Audio recording: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/05-26-19-the-everywhere-temple-jeremy-richards/id1479727299?i=1000453384361

Our readings today may seem, at first glance, to be quite different, and they are, but there are some commonalities as well. There is one in particular that I’d like to focus on, and it isn’t something that they both have, but something they are both missing. I’d like to focus not on something that’s present, but something that’s absent: a temple, a church.

I’ve Started to Make Heaven My Home

Revelation 7:9-17

Jeremy Richards

Audio recording: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/05-12-19-ive-started-to-make-heaven-my-home-jeremy-richards/id1479727299?i=1000453223507

In his book, The Spirituals and the Blues, the theologian James Cone explores the meaning of heaven in black slave spirituals. He begins one chapter with these questions:

How was it possible for black slaves to take seriously their pain and suffering in an unfriendly world and still believe that God was liberating them from earthly bondage? How could they really believe that God was just when they knew only injustice, oppression, and death? What exactly was revealed in their encounter with God that made them know that their humanity was protected from the insanity of white masters and governmental officials? The answer to these questions lies in the concept of heaven, which is the dominant idea in black religious experience as expressed in the black spirituals.[1]

The Art of Apocalypse

Revelation 4-5 (esp. 5:11-14)

Jeremy Richards        

I’m no art connoisseur, but I like art. When Brie and I visit other cities, we often like to go to the art museums, even though we’ve never been to the Portland Art Museum, if you can believe that. But in New York we went to the Met and MOMA. In Italy we went to the Borghese Gallery. And then, every church in Italy was basically an art museum as well. While I’m not so into gold and gaudy decorations, I think it would be great if churches started looking like art museums again (maybe we could start with our church?). Our faith is too cerebral these days. In Amsterdam we went to the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum. We’re total novices when it comes to art appreciation, and we have no real experience or talent when it comes to the visual arts, but every time Brie and I visit an art museum, we end up wishing we went more.

Revelation: A Line in the Sand

Revelation 1:4-8

Jeremy Richards        

Audio recording: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/04-28-19-revelation-a-line-in-the-sand-jeremy-richards/id1479727299?i=1000453170333

After our daughter Esther’s birth at Legacy Emmanuel, Brie and Esther were wheeled to a beautiful room in Randall Children’s hospital. The two hospitals are connected, so we never went outside. When we got to our room high up in the hospital, we had a beautiful view looking out over green treetops against a blue sky. It was like we were in another world. We had nurses caring for us, Brie had food delivered, and, of course, we had this new human, this new child. Our entire family had changed. Our whole world had changed. No longer were we two, we were three.

Filled Up, Poured Out

Psalm 126 | John 12:1-8

Jeremy Richards

Audio recording: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/04-07-19-filled-up-poured-out-jeremy-richards/id1479727299?i=1000449402368

As many of you know, Brie and I were both English majors which means, among other things, that we love stories. We love to read them in books, to watch them in plays and movies, and even, occasionally, to write them ourselves.