Tag Archives: God’s voice

Love is the way.

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Epiphany 2A, 15 Jan. 2023.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz

  • Isaiah 49:1-7. I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.
  • 1 Corinthians 1:1-9. God is faithful.
  • John 1:29-41. Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

O God, manifest in us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Last week in our Gospel lesson, we heard Matthew’s version of Jesus’ baptism at the Jordan River. According to Matthew, the voice that Jesus heard was an inside-out rather than an outside-in voice. Matthew was describing the bat kol, the voice of the Divine, which sounds like the voice of a little girl, or the daughter of a voice, an echo. Matthew mentions that the heavens opened up to Jesus and a spirit of holiness landed on him like a dove and he heard the voice of the Divine, the bat kol, saying, “This is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew does not describe this as a voice heard by any of the others who were there. Continue reading →

Blessing for All

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Proper 24C. Oct. 16, 2022.  The Very Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

Jeremiah 31:27-24. I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be to them for a god and they will be to me for a people.
2 Timothy 3:13-4:5. Be persistent whether the time is favorable or unfavorable.
Luke 18:1-8. Pray always and [do] not…lose heart.

O God of hope, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have three challenging readings from scripture before us this morning; I would like to preach a full sermon on each of them. So much is going on here; it makes my head feel as if it might explode because I have so many things to say to you. I’m wondering, do you have a few hours? Probably not;  besides, I want to get to Genevieve’s baptism, so I’ll summarize. Continue reading →

Covenantal Connectedness

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Last Sunday after the Epiphany, B, February 14, 2021, The Rev. Pamela L. Werntz.

2 Kings 2:1-12. “Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”
2 Corinthians 4:3-6. For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Mark 9:2-10. He did not know what to say for they were terrified.

O God of Revelation, grant us the wisdom, the strength and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

We have come to the end of the season of Epiphany, the season of celebrating sacred gifts and divine disclosures. In our Hebrew Bible lesson this morning we have the wonderful story from 2 Kings about how Elisha got the power and the authority to carry on Elijah’s work after Elijah was gone, after he was “taken up.” Elisha had been travelling with and learning from Elijah for many years. He had burned his farming equipment and slaughtered his oxen, thus destroying his means of income, his livelihood;  he had left his home so that he could travel with the prophet Elijah (much more dramatic than leaving the boats and nets with Zebedee and his hired hands to follow Jesus).

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