The Us and Them
Mark Schloneger
The story of Peter having the vision of clean and unclean animals and ultimately being led to Cornelius’ house. To Peter and other Jewish believers, God’s call for Israel to be holy was to be symbolized in the everyday acts of eating. However, through both his vision and subsequent witness of God pouring out the […]
The Economy of Grace
Mark Schloneger
I think Jesus told this parable to get under his disciples’ skin a bit. I think he told it not only to teach us about what the kingdom of heaven is like but about what this world is like and what we are like. The world sees strength, power, intelligence and wealth and rewards it. […]
Let It Be
Mark Schloneger
Faithfulness, at its essence, is not the quest for a mystical experience, an experience that takes us out of the here and now. Faith does not equal a feeling of transcendence. Faith means following Jesus, trusting that what lies ahead is even greater than what has already been experienced. You see, you can spend your […]
Beggars in the Hands of a Generous God
Mark Schloneger
Beggars in the Hands of a Generous God. When we see ourselves in this way, when we see others in this way, and, when we see God in this way, then treating others as we would want to be treated becomes a natural extension of our life in prayer. In the end, as Martin Luther […]
War, Worship, and Sacrifice
Mark Schloneger
June 19. June 19, 1865. On that date, Union soldiers arrived in Texas, the remotest state in the former Confederacy and proclaimed to both enslaved people and slaveowners that the war had ended and that all slaves were free. That’s what Juneteenth commemorates. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture calls this […]
The Unfinished City
Mark Schloneger
It’s Pentecost. And here we are, all together in one place, praying and singing, and listening. But this, all of this, it didn’t happen by accident. Our worship today is not a spontaneous eruption, an extemporaneous production, an extraneous interruption. No, we have planned for this service, this particular service.
In the Watershed
Mark Schloneger
In the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis, chapter 2 — we’re given the story of Creation, the beginning of time. We’re told that God created human beings, planted a garden, and then placed them in the garden. We’re told that the trees of Eden were beautiful, and that they produced fruit that was good […]
Healing Faith
Mark Schloneger
Those widows, they’re not new to grief. No, they would tell you, they’ve been here before. They know the rituals, and so they simply did what needed to be done. They gathered together, they washed the body, and they placed it upstairs. But all of that, it doesn’t really help if you’re still in shock, […]
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