Natalie's Grace Notes

  After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, Peter got a big promotion amongst the disciples, and started a new job, as “the rock upon which Jesus would build the Church.” No pressure, though. The book of Acts, that we’re getting these verses from, was written by the same person who wrote the Gospel of Luke. We know that because both books begin with a special thanks to some dude named “Theophilus”. We have no historical records of anyone ever being named Theophilus, and no other books, save for these two, dedicated to Theophilus. Theophilus was either a wealthy patron of Luke with a crazy unique name, OR, we can take a look at what “Theophilus” means in Greek–lover of God–and go with the alternate theory, that Theophilus wasn’t one specific person, but rather the author’s way of giving a nod to all people who will read these stories as he intended, with love for God. Either way, dedicating your book to Theophilus is right up there with “call me Ishmael” as an easily identifi...

  Good morning, friends. It’s good to be back in the pulpit. I’ve missed y’all. And, naturally, the day I picked to be back from post-Easter vacation is this day that’s odd, wondrous, and challenging: Mother’s Day. This can be a hard day to preach, because the word “mother” is an emotional one that carries so much weight for us, both good and bad. For some of us, this day is simplistically joyous. You were raised by an exemplary mother, an angel walking among us. Maybe y’all are so close, like besties. Maybe you brought her with you to church today, and after the service, as long as I don’t drag this sermon out too long and make you miss your reservations, you’ll go out to lunch together. I’ll do my best. Some of us are blessed beyond measure to be mothers, and our little darlings drive us up the wall like a chair lift sometimes, but that’s just life and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Some of us started this day with flowers, or breakfast in bed, and y’all I promise I didn’t ju...