Deep-End Discipleship

Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?   You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” John 4:10-14 CEB As I’ve noted before, the Gospel of John stands out among the gospels. One of the ways that John is different is found in this chapter and the story of the Samaritan woman. From the beginning of this story in John 4:4 to the end in John 4:42, the Samarit...

“ The Lord your God is in your midst—a warrior bringing victory. He will create calm with his love; he will rejoice over you with singing.” - Zephaniah 3:17 CEB - I love getting packages! Something about even the expected order from Amazon that is sitting on your doorstep is great! I think I am joined by many, many others for whom just the sheer joy of opening a package is fun. Even if you think you know what you are getting, opening it in person is filled with just a moment of the unknown. Will it be what I think I am getting? Is it what I imagined it would look like? Do I even know or remember what this package might be? The physicality of seeing the package revealed paired with the actual moment of claiming what is yours is wonderful. Obviously this raw giving nature of Christmas taps into just this with wrapped gifts and surprises. What I think is so tricky about Christmas for us at times is that we have had to open the same package from God over and over again. “O...

“Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin.” Hebrews 4:14-15 It’s really easy to feel alone. When life gets stressful, when friends do hurtful things, when getting a “good” grade seems like an impossible task, it may feel like no one is there. You may think that no one could possibly understand what it’s like to be you right now. Even more so, you may wonder how in the world Jesus, the Savior of the World, the Son of God, could possibly understand how hard life is for you right now. But the coolest thing is that Jesus total understands. Jesus was 100% human, which means he experienced life in full, just as you do. Jesus knows what it’s like to have friends turn their backs on him. He absolutely understands what it’s lik...

After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galille announcing God's good news, saying, "Now is the time! Here comes God's kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!" - Mark 1:14-15 (CEB) - I love stories fantasy fiction stories. I love the adventure, the lessons learned, and the incredible creatures. My favorite mythical creature is the Phoenix. The Phoenix is a huge magnificent bird of red, orange, and yellow colors. At the end of their life, they burst into flames and disintegrate into ash. Soon after, the Phoenix is reborn from the ash and begins life again. Even though the Phoenix is mythical, I think it is a symbol that represents a great degree of truth in life. In Mark 1:14-15, we see the beginning of Jesus’ ministry and the end of John the Baptist’s. John prepared the way for Jesus and called people to repent and be baptized. John’s ministry ended by being arrested by Herod and later put to death. Even from this tragic end, t...

 “Arise! Shine! Your light has come; the Lord’s glory has shone upon you. Though darkness covers the earth and gloom the nations, the Lord will shine upon you; God’s glory will appear over you.” - Isaiah 60:1-2 CEB - Darkness is a real thing. Not only as we get to the winter months where it might be dark before you get home from your afternoon or evening activities, but we know darkness on a personal level sometimes.  Darkness is that voice in us that makes us doubt ourselves. Darkness is that feeling that no one else knows what you’re going through. Darkness is cold isolation and separation.  Yet we know through the birth of Christ that God’s light breaks in upon us. The love of God that comes in Jesus finds us just as we are, just where we are. God’s love warms up the coldest isolation and lets us see ourselves for the beautiful creation God made us to be. One of my favorite images is the sharing of the Christ candle we do at our Christmas Eve services...