Dec 10, 2017 |
Shared Stories
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Shared Stories
"Each of us has our stories, and only we can tell them. And,
it means so much when we are able to share them with someone else, because it
deepens that other person’s awareness of Christ’s movement… awareness of who
the other person is. It’s a beautiful thing to share. Each of us is unique. Only
we can tell our stories. And, we know when we do, we are telling the story of
another child of God."
Mark 1:1-8
Mark 1:1-8
Dec 10, 2017 |
Tough Mudder
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Tough Mudder
"This is not ‘repent or God won’t love you anymore.’ This is ‘Jesus
is coming with love, to care for you, to save you, to liberate you from your
sins so that you can live into a life of love…’ Period. We are all going to
finish this race together. That is the good news of Jesus Christ. We, this world,
dark as it seems, scary and painful as it is, we are going to finish this
together, with God. The knowledge of that makes it possible for us to repent."
Mark 1:1-8
Mark 1:1-8
Dec 03, 2017 |
Keeping Watch
| The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene![The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/hopkins-greene-267_417_small.jpg)
Keeping Watch
"But, we too need to know that somehow all shall be well in
the end. And in the meantime, we’re keeping watch. Jesus says we’ll never know
the hour. But, we do know that Christ came. Christ keeps coming into our lives,
and we keep watch for those little glimpses of grace, and glimpses of glory"
Mark 13:24-37
Mark 13:24-37
Dec 03, 2017 |
I Miss You Already
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
I Miss You Already
“You’ve got to be open to falling in love with Jesus.
Really. Not as an idea. Not as a concept. Not as some sort of broad, bland,
saying ‘I believe in goodness and justice and love.’ I believe in goodness and
justice and love, that’s great. You can’t fall in love with a concept… not
really. You can idealize it. You can hold it up. You can say ‘look at this. This
is what it’s supposed to be.’ But, you fall in love with people. We’ve
got to be open to the possibility that Jesus is real, and that you can have a
relationship with Jesus. That Jesus is someone you can fall in love with.”
Mark 13:24-37
Mark 13:24-37
Nov 26, 2017 |
Our Counter-Cultural King
| The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene![The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/hopkins-greene-267_417_small.jpg)
Our Counter-Cultural King
“We often talk about how we want people to come here and we
will welcome them, and that’s so true, we’re so good. But, how about seeking
out, gathering, leading, feeding, out in the world. This is certainly an
invitation for all of us, and it is one more step toward the kingdom of Christ’s
reign.”
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Matthew 25:31-46
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Matthew 25:31-46
Nov 26, 2017 |
Bad Babies
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Bad Babies
“This isn’t what it means to be a good person. This is what it means for us to be the Church. This isn’t about us getting to heaven when we die because we did the right things. This is about us recognizing heaven present right here. That’s what justice looks like. That’s what love is… recognizing God, beauty, and the blessing in the people right in front of you. Not for who you’d like them to be. Not for who they might could be one day… but for who they are right now. When you do that, you are the body of Christ.”
Matthew 25:31-46
Matthew 25:31-46
Nov 19, 2017 |
Our Stories
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Our Stories
“We may repeat our cycles of forgetting who God is. We may
repeat our cycles of falling into sin. We may repeat our cycles of needing to
step back and remember… remember who God is… remember that everything we have,
however it compares to anything else, that everything is gift from God. We may
feel stuck at times. We may fail to see what’s right in front of us. And yet
through it all, God is with us. We need only remember that. That God is with
us.”
Matthew 25:14-30
Matthew 25:14-30
Nov 19, 2017 |
Forgetting God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Forgetting God
“Are we going to be faithless, wicked, lazy servants of God
sometimes? Yeah! Are we going to forget who God is even though we should
remember? Yes! Are we still learning who God is every day, even amidst this
life, we should know it perfectly, are we still figuring it out? Of course. The
stories we have are of a God who, when we can’t figure it out, when we cry out
to God for help, God comes. God shows up. God helps. God connects. God’s
presence is made known.”
Judges 4:1-7
Matthew 25:14-30
Judges 4:1-7
Matthew 25:14-30
Nov 12, 2017 |
God's Dignity
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
God's Dignity
"Are gay people people, straight people? Trans? Do they get
dignity? Are Trump supporters still people, or are they just a basket of
deplorables? Are they human beings? Are we going to break ourselves up into
men/women, this/that, Republican/Democrat, us/them... or are we going to look at
the person right in front of us and recognize the dignity God has given them.
The love and the wonder with which each person is made. That is the question at
the lips of every person that I know even if we don’t know how to say it. We
are having a conversation about the dignity and the respect owed to each
person."
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Nov 12, 2017 |
The Right Choice
| The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene![The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/hopkins-greene-267_417_small.jpg)
The Right Choice
"We are re-upping, reconfirming with God, realigning… every
time we come here and gather with one another. We hear the story through Eucharist…
we hear of Jesus’s life, his death, his resurrection… and empowered by this
holy meal we are set forth. Once again, we choose God. This is our Shechem. And
truth is, every day of our lives is that place of choice. The place where we
choose amid all the distractions, amid all the things, that we will follow God"
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Matthew 25:1-13
Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25
Matthew 25:1-13
Nov 05, 2017 |
No Expectations
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
No Expectations
"This life that we share here… this church life, this Christian
reality... is not about the expectations that the world places on us, or the expectations
that we place on ourselves. It’s not even about the expectations we have for
this world. It is about sharing life with God and with one another, and
recognizing that experience as holy, and knowing that you’re not alone in it."
Joshua 3:7-17
Matthew 23:1-12
Joshua 3:7-17
Matthew 23:1-12
Oct 29, 2017 |
The Beauty of Promise
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
The Beauty of Promise
"You were fearfully and wonderfully made by the God of all
things. When you look in the mirror, you are looking at a creation of God… a
beautiful, beloved, belonging creation of God. And, when you look at every
person you meet, you are looking at a beautiful, beloved, belonging creation of
God. And, when you start to see that as true, you are in the promised land.
When you start to let go of the idealized way things are supposed to be, and
love the person right in front of you as they are… you’re right up there with
Moses and God on the side of the mountain seeing the beauty of the world…
seeing the beauty of promise… seeing real hope and experiencing love."
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Matthew 22:34-46
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Matthew 22:34-46
Oct 29, 2017 |
Our Land of Promise
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Our Land of Promise
"As we look at our lives we can take clear stock of our
individual journeys: where we have been, where we are now… with mindfulness to
how spirit calls us… with course corrections as needed. The land of promise,
the sacred ground for each of us, is whatever ground we walk on when we walk in
Christ’s love."
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Matthew 22:34-46
Deuteronomy 34:1-12
Matthew 22:34-46
Oct 22, 2017 |
Challenge Yourself, Challenge God
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Challenge Yourself, Challenge God
"So, as we think about all the relationships in our lives: our
relationships with loved ones, our relationships with friends, our relationships
with money, our relationships with other gifts that we have, our relationships
with livelihood and service, our relationships with all that we have been
given. And, whose is it? Whose are they?"
Exodus 33:12-23
Matthew 22:15-22
Exodus 33:12-23
Matthew 22:15-22
Oct 22, 2017 |
Science, Technology, and God's Glory
| The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene![The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/hopkins-greene-267_417_small.jpg)
Science, Technology, and God's Glory
“We get so used to defining life… to looking at science and
technology. We can alter genes. We can do so much in this world that we forget
that a lot of it is still mystery. Or, we try to control our lives. And
sometimes, again, this is engaged with God, but we forget God’s bigger
purposes. Sometimes to reach beyond our personal concerns, to justice, to loving
neighbor and those out there, but also just to the fact that we are simply pin-pricks
in this universe… a small part of the world created by God.”
Exodus 33:12-23
Exodus 33:12-23
Oct 15, 2017 |
The Uncomfortable Uncertainty of God
| The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene![The Rev. Nancy Hopkins-Greene](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/hopkins-greene-267_417_small.jpg)
The Uncomfortable Uncertainty of God
“We want a god who is on our side, not theirs. We want a God
who tells us exactly what to do. Alas, if only I could have that god… a god
that we can manipulate… whose will we can fully understand, and whose desires
and future we can predict. But, instead we are given this other God: a God of
mystery… a God who is both transcendent, and imminent.”
Exodus 32:1-14
Exodus 32:1-14
Oct 15, 2017 |
Angry Like God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Angry Like God
“There’s something inside of us, all of us, every single one
of us, that makes us feel alone from time to time. We think that it’s our job
to go it alone, to pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, to be independent
and strong. And what I love about the story is there is no one in our Christian
story stronger than God. There is no one more powerful in the Christian story than
the God who made all things, and this God chooses not to go it alone.”
Exodus 32:1-14
Exodus 32:1-14
Oct 08, 2017 |
Ten Easy Steps to Salvation
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Ten Easy Steps to Salvation
“We are in trouble; we are scared; we are afraid; we are enslaved
to greed; we are enslaved to fear and privilege; we are enslaved to violence in
this world… and we think if we follow the commandments, God will free us. And
the reality of the story is, God is saying ‘I have freed you, now let’s talk about
our relationship.'”
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
Oct 01, 2017 |
Fighting With God
| The Rev. Philip DeVaul![The Rev. Philip DeVaul](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/philip-devaul_215_small.jpg)
Fighting With God
“They have no problem quarreling. They have no problem
arguing. They have no problem belly aching and just giving it up. ‘God are you
just gonna let us starve? God, are you gonna make us thirsty until we die? Is that
what you’re gonna do, God?’ You know what God calls that? Faithfulness. Do you
know what God calls quarreling, and questioning, and challenging, and
wrestling? Faithfulness. Do you know what he calls you when you are so
comfortable with God that you are willing to scream, and yell, and shout? He
calls you a blessing.”
Exodus 17:1-7
Exodus 17:1-7
Oct 01, 2017 |
Basic Needs
| The Rev. Joyce Keeshin![The Rev. Joyce Keeshin](https://www.redeemer-cincy.org/uploads/images/joyce-keeshin_250_small.jpg)
Basic Needs
“So we don’t have to, nor could we possibly, get things
perfect. We don’t have to suppress all those feelings or always be happy with
what’s going on. We have basic needs, and it is absolutely right that we ask
they be addressed… that we do what’s needed to address them. But it’s also seen
that we are all in the midst of our journeys. And, most importantly, God is
with us. Whatever stage of the journey we’re in, God is with us, and God’s
presence is all of the blessing we need.”
Exodus 17:1-7
Exodus 17:1-7