Natalie's Grace Notes

  Friends, we’re now in the third Sunday of Lent, as, because of that, the third week of this sermon series I put together for this season, where we’re taking a look at a book called Invitations of Jesus by author and pastor Trevor Hudson. Every week, we’re looking at a verse from the Gospels where Jesus extends some kind of invitation to the folks around him, and we’re looking at what we learn from that invitation.  This week’s invitation, and the only Gospel passage I’m going to have us look at, comes from Matthew’s Gospel, and it’s Jesus calling Matthew, the man, to be his disciple. Now, to be clear: many folks who interpret the Bible more conservatively assume that Matthew the disciple and Matthew the author of this Gospel are the same person, and, therefore, that this Gospel is an eyewitness account of Jesus’ life, miracles, and teachings, written by someone who spent every day and night with him for a year. Since nearly all of the disciples died young and tragically, th...

  Friends, we’re now in the second Sunday of our Lenten journey, and the second week of this sermon series I put together for this season, where we’ll be taking a look at Invitations of Jesus by pastor and author Trevor Hudson. This week’s invitation is “invitation to transforming intimacy”, and Hudson bases it on Matthew 22: 34-40: The Greatest Commandment 34 When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, 35 and one of them, an expert in the law, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” In other words, in yet another story where the Pharisees are trying to publicly mess with Jesus, make hi...

  Y’all know I’m a liturgy and history nerd. This Sunday is another of those church holidays that most folks don’t think about, but that I love preaching on. It’s Transfiguration Sunday. It’s the very end of the season of Epiphany, and the last Sunday before we go into Lent. It’s a “white stole” Sunday, too, in honor of the special glimpses of God we observe today. We have 2 stories this morning about a once in a lifetime encounter with divinity. We hear the story of Moses descending Mount Sinai after one of his conversations with God about the Law. Unbeknownst to Moses, talking to God made him glow. But the light was so striking that even his brother Aaron was afraid to go anywhere near him. I mean, I think I understand. If one of my sisters suddenly looked like a Glow Worm I’d have questions, too. When Moses realized he shimmered after talking to God, he started wearing a veil around the Hebrews as base camp, for their comfort. Then he’d take the veil off to go back up Mount Sina...