A Visual Meditation on John 18:1-27 | Jesus and Peter on Trial
The Narrative Lectionary brings us to the story of Peter’s Denial in John 18:12-27. I have chosen to start in John 18:1 with the scene of Jesus’ arrest. I think it is an important framing for the story. Below are my illustrations. Feel free to use them in...
The Family that Weeps Together…
How does your family deal with loss? 2006 was a difficult year for my family. We call it the year of death. I had a good friend who took his own life. Both of my wife’s grandmothers died, the church we had started fours years earlier died. To top it all off,...
Resurrection and the Unfolding Universe
Four things have converged this morning that make for an interesting question. How can we believe in the resurrection of the dead in this secular age? The four points of convergence: First, we read the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from dead this past weekend, found...
Stinky Feet, Clean People | A Meditation on John 13:1-17
We take a radical turn in our worship series through the Gospel of John this week. The past few weeks have addressed large passages of scripture that deal with complex stories: a conversation with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21), the Woman at the Well (John 4:1-42), Healing...
The Bread of Life | A Visual Meditation on John 6
This PowerPoint and Image Pack offers a visual meditation on John 6:1-71. Jesus feeds 5,000, walks on water, and proclaims that he is the bread of life. Any who eat his flesh and drink his blood will abide in him and he in them. What does this mean?
Come Alive! | A Visual Meditation on Lazarus in John 11:1-44
We come to the seventh and final sign in the Gospel of John this week. Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. Below are my visual meditations. Feel free to use any of these images in your study or teaching. It always starts with visually marking up the text. This is a...
Ash Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, and True Love
How will you handle the confluence of traditions and romantic ideas today? On the one hand, it is Valentine’s Day. It is a celebration of romantic love and indulgence in chocolate, food, flowers, and all sorts of pleasure. On the other hand, it is Ash Wednesday....
What Does the Good Shepherd Have to Do With Ash Wednesday?
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. This is the day that begins the season of Lent. We traditionally smear black ashes on our foreheads, in the sign of the cross, and proclaim, “Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” over each other. It’s...
