Exodus 17:1-7 Despite the constant reminder that God was with them not only in the form of verbal promises, but visually and tangibly in the form of the pillar of cloud and fire which guided the Israelites they questioned God’s presence “Is the Lord among us or not?” (Exodus 17:7). Recently in speaking to people […]
Exodus 16:2-15 Despite almost being trapped with the Red (or Reed) Sea on one side of them and the approaching Egyptian army chariots advancing upon them on the other side, Moses and the people of Israel safely made it across the Sea. You can have your memory refreshed by watching these clips from the Dreamworks’ […]
Exodus 14:19-31 Last week we had the story of the Passover. The story that has shaped a people’s identity. A story that tells of liberation from slavery to freedom. A story that continues to be told and remembered today, a perpetual ordinance as God ordained (Exodus 12:17). As Moses told them “when your children ask […]
Exodus Moses is one of the biblical characters that I identify with. Are there particular biblical characters that you identify with? Although I identify with Moses there are lots of differences between me and Moses. I wasn’t adopted, I didn’t grow up in a royal household and you will be please to know that I […]
Exodus 3:1-15 This week we continue the story of Moses with the famous story of Moses and the burning bush. This story has been told in many ways over the years including the 1956 film The Ten Commandments produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille and staring Charlton Heston as Moses. For younger generations […]
Exodus 1:8- 2:10 People are meaning makers. We all search for meaning in our lives and in the events that happen around us. We are also storytellers. All cultures have stories that they tell. We tell stories as a way of fostering social cooperation, empathy and justice, and teaching social norms. Storytelling is also a […]
Genesis 45:1-15 Trying to make sense of why bad things happen, why there is pain and suffering, are questions people have been asking since the beginning. What is God’s role in all the bad stuff? Does God cause it? Is it all part of some grand plan? Or does God let bad things happen but […]
Genesis 37:1-28 Over the last few weeks we have been looking at the story of Jacob who was renamed Israel. His story and the stories that follow are identity stories of the Jewish people, the people of Israel. They are stories of a dysfunctional family over the generations. Their dysfunction is not unique to this […]
Genesis 32:22-31 “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This famous quote from William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet indicates names do not matter but is Shakespeare right? Does our name influence how people see us and who we grow to be? Studies suggest that […]
Genesis 29:15-28 Last Sunday in my sermon I indicated that we should be careful not to read the bible and assume we are the goodies of the story. We should also not assume that the biblical characters, even the forefathers are the goodies. Biblical characters like all us humans are complex, not all good or […]