January 2023

The texts are great today.Micah summarizes the whole of the law and the prophets:“He has told you, O mortal, what is good;and what does the Lord require of youbut to do justice, and to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God?”The psalmist lays out who will abide with God:He has sworn to do no […]

Matthew’s quotation is intended to remind his readers that the preaching ministry begun by Jesus in Galilee in fulfillment of Scripture would eventually issue in the mission to the Gentiles. That’s us. Epiphany season, extension with Magi knowing good news of the same God, us sharing that good news, Jesus’ direction in great commission.

The next part is uncomfortable but following Jesus leads to one place – the cross – so some discomfort along the way is part of the bargain. 

The sermon for Sunday, January 8, 2023 was preached by the Most Rev. Melissa Skelton. Archbishop Skelton is the bishop provisional of the Diocese of Olympia. She is the retired Archbishop of British Columbia and Yukon and Bishop of New Westminster. The sermon for Baptism of the Lord was preached from the following manuscript as

Jesus being named on the eighth day and following the rituals of his people is a solidification of what we proclaim at Christmas: God became flesh and lived among us. God came to live among us to save us from ourselves and the mistakes and sins we commit things done and left undone every day of every week of every year. Recording Jesus’ circumcision is recording how truly human Jesus was as he continued to be fully God so that as Paul says we might receive adoption as children. Because we are children of God we have become heirs of God’s salvation.