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Being the Salt and the Light

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Isaiah 58:1-9a, (9b-12); 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20 The weeks before Lent invite us to slow down and take an honest look at ourselves. Not ashes yet. Not deep repentance yet. Just a simple, searching question: Does my faith show up in how I live? Today’s readings don’t let us avoid that question. When Faith Looks Full but Is Actually Empty God speaks clearly and firmly through Isaiah. The people pray. They fast. They seek God every day. From the outside, they look faithful and devoted. But God sees something deeper. They worship, yet treat others unfairly. They pray, yet ignore hunger and suffering. They act humble, yet keep their hearts closed. And God says plainly: This is not what I want. True faith, God says, looks like this: freeing people who are burdened feeding the hungry welcoming the homeless caring for those in need Spiritual practices are not the goal. They are meant to change us. If prayer doesn’t soften us, and worship doesn’t make us more compassio...
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Holding the Light While We Wait

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The Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas) Malachi 3:1–4 · Hebrews 2:14–18 · Luke 2:22–40 The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord stands at a quiet threshold in the Church year. Behind us are the lights and songs of Christmas. Ahead of us lies the long road toward the Cross. Candlemas is not a loud feast. It is a listening one. It is about waiting. And it is especially about waiting when life has already known sorrow. The God Who Comes to Refine, Not to Flee (Malachi 3:1–4) The prophet Malachi announces with confidence: “The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple.” But he immediately asks a harder question: “Who can endure the day of his coming?” God’s presence, Malachi reminds us, is not always easy. It is refining fire. It is fuller’s soap. Not because God wishes to destroy, but because God desires to heal what has been distorted. For those who carry grief, this matters. God’s refining work is not proof of abandonment. Often, it is proof of nearnes, working q...
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St. Paul's conversion - Stopped on the Road

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“I Was Not Disobedient to the Heavenly Vision” Conversion stories are often told as if they are neat and instant. A flash of light. A sudden change of heart. A life immediately put back together. But Scripture tells a truer story. Conversion is not neat. It is not safe. And it is rarely comfortable. Paul does not describe his conversion as a quiet spiritual moment. He describes it as a collision. “ I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things against the name of Jesus of Nazareth.” (Acts 26:9) Paul begins with honesty. He does not soften his past. He does not say, “I was mistaken,” but “I was convinced.” He was faithful. He was zealous. He was sincere. And he was wrong. This is the first hard truth in Paul’s conversion: sincerity is not the same as truth. conviction is not the same as calling. Paul was not converted from unbelief to belief. He was converted from certainty to obedience. Struck Down, Not Destroyed On the road to Damascus, Paul is stopped—not by an ar...
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Called Before We Know

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Isaiah 49:1–7 | 1 Corinthians 1:1–9 | John 1:29–42 Isaiah speaks with a kind of quiet boldness when he says, “The Lord called me before I was born; while I was in my mother’s womb he named me.” This is not poetic exaggeration. It is a deep theological claim about how God works. Calling does not begin with our awareness, our choices, or our faithfulness. It begins with God’s knowing. Most of us discover our calling only after the fact.   Looking back, we begin to see how God was shaping us through experiences that felt ordinary—or even painful—at the time. Restlessness. Failure. Long seasons of obscurity. None of these cancel a calling. In Scripture, they often accompany it. Isaiah himself admits discouragement. He confesses that his work has felt pointless, his effort wasted. Calling, after all, does not guarantee that our lives will feel effective. Faithfulness can feel unseen. Obedience can feel unrewarded. And yet God responds not with rebuke, but with a widening of ...
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Beloved and Sent

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Isaiah 42:1–9 | Acts 10:34–43 | Matthew 3:13–17 The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord always feels a bit quiet—almost understated. There are no angels singing, no star in the sky, no wise men bearing gifts. Instead, there is a river, a crowd, and muddy water. And yet, this moment may be one of the most revealing scenes in the entire Gospel. Jesus steps into the Jordan not as a teacher, not as a miracle-worker, not yet even as a preacher. He comes simply as one among many. He joins the line of people seeking repentance, healing, and hope. The sinless one enters waters meant for sinners. That alone should give us pause. The Servant Who Does Not Shout Isaiah’s reading gives us a vision of God’s chosen servant that feels almost countercultural: “He will not cry or lift up his voice… A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench.” This is not the image of a triumphant ruler or a forceful reformer. Instead, it is the portrait of a servant whose powe...
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Following the Star Within

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Isaiah 60:1–6 · Matthew 2:1–12 Epiphany is the feast of light. Not the blinding kind. Not the floodlight that exposes everything at once. Epiphany light is quieter—more like a star, small but persistent, bright enough to guide you if you’re willing to keep walking. Isaiah gives us the poetry first: “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.” Matthew gives us the story: strangers from the East, astrologers and seekers, following a star toward something they don’t fully understand. Put together, they tell a story that is not only about them—but about us. Arise: Waking Up to the Light Isaiah’s command is surprisingly active: Arise. Not “wait.” Not “believe harder.” Arise. Allegorically, this is the moment of inner awakening—the soul stirring from spiritual sleep. Darkness, Isaiah says, still covers the earth. That feels honest. Darkness still covers parts of us too: fear, grief, confusion, habits we can’t quite shake. But the light does n...
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Living Under a Name: Starting the Year with Jesus

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  The world begins the new year with lists. Goals. Resolutions. Predictions. We try to measure time as if we could control it, as if we could master what is coming. The church begins differently. Quietly. Almost stubbornly. We begin not with plans, but with a name . Eight days after his birth, a child is carried into the light of the law and given the name spoken over him before he ever took a breath: Jesus . Before he teaches, before he heals, before he is followed or rejected, he is named. And the church insists that this is where every year should begin—not with what we hope to become, but with who God has already given to us. A Blessing That Holds In Numbers, God gives Israel a blessing: "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace." The words are gentle, almost like a lullaby. But there is something deeper here: God places his own name upon the people....
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