Jesus's parables about the fig tree and the master coming in the night are a little confusing. Are we supposed to look for signs about the future, or not? If…
Churches are human institutions. But we must not lose sight of why we gather and in whose name.
The core challenge of the Good News to people from the earliest days of the church has been: what does faith look like?
Some prophet, long ago, noticed the implications of God being the God of all people--that God's promise was equally for all people.
On Reformation Day, we remember always the foundations of our faith, our lodestone for forming and re-forming our church: Nothing can come between us and the love of God.
As we think about stewarding our resources, we think about those of us who are among the 99 sheep left together.
The parable of the talents is confusing. But in the end, it speaks to our need to overcome indecision and use what we have been given.
As we celebrate the bountiful harvest, we remember when we did not have enough and give thanks for all the Good Things.
Psalm 149 shows the abrupt change we sometimes have when our proclamations of praise and conception of ourselves as servants of God encounter our inconvenience, defensiveness, and reactivity.
Specifics of context make all the distance in understanding the advice to the early church. What are our specifics, and how do they guide the advice we give?
Jesus's instructions to us are to look outside ourselves, outside our comfort, and find his promise and support in the work that we do to bring all people into our…
People who grow up as Christians sometimes miss out on the experience of encountering the Gospel for the first time. For the woman at the well, being known and seen…
The Bible is peppered with stories of resistance, of people in the midst of oppression or suppression somehow finding ways to express some power. The book of Esther is one…
As we continue Rachel Held Evans's book Inspired, we look at Job's friends, or "How NOT to be helpful".
Hagar and Ishamael run from Abram and Sarai's house. Rachel Held Evans teaches us to not forget their story as we search for the magic of the Bible.
Acts concludes with Paul's implicit charge to future followers: go forth among the Gentiles. In our world, we are the ones to heed his call to examine our own hearts…
As we welcome new members into Ankeny UCC, we look to Paul's outreach to followers of John the Baptist and understand how the diversity of our faith journeys changes us…
