WESLEY ARNING

The Christian message makes some outrageous claims if you think about it. We claim that the author of creation entered into our story.

Because of Jesus, and only because of Jesus, can death be both friend and foe. Death is no longer a judgment on God’s people because Jesus

At its purest level, the Temple in Jerusalem was meant to communicate God’s covenant faithfulness with his people. It would stand forever

Jesus was sandwiched seemingly between two worlds. The old world of Jerusalem and the new world of the Kingdom he was bringing about.

And time and again in his letter he has portrayed these two forms of wisdom as coming from above and below. The wisdom that comes from above

Paul explains to them that Christian baptism is “into Jesus.” Faith is not in the Holy Spirit, it’s in Jesus, but if you believe in Jesus

You are loved not because of anything that you bring to the table. Mary wasn’t known for her beauty, Joseph for his intelligence, or the

This longing to be freed, to be safe and made whole again is caught up in the division and darkness that is presently working in this

This is not a parable about investing your money, it is about investing your life—all that you are and all that you possess—into God’

This invisible Body of Christ is made up of all the faithful who have gone before us. It began with St. Stephen, the first martyr of the

As followers of the Crucified and Risen Lord, we cannot exchange sorrow for hope instantly. We cannot discard grief and pain that is brought

Another way to think about this messianic feast is that it’s not a fully catered meal—wait staff and all. Don’t doubt for a second that this

“Who ya with?” really gets to the heart of Jesus’ entire ministry. Slowly but surely he has been telling people that his authority is

Life is too precious, and our gospel work too serious, to be sidetracked by personal offenses that we’ve allowed to grow deep roots in our

The task of the second half of life is to find the contents that the container was meant to hold. Up to this point, everything has been mere

The gospel is actually really persuasive. Shame on us as the church if we have ever made the Good News of Jesus boring and dull because

What we prioritize, both great and small, shape the life of the disciple, and as much as it makes us fidget in our pew this morning, Jesus

And so, whether you can have children or not, that hopeless and lonely feeling is the link that connects these women with each of us; their

Babylon could’ve become a graveyard for their people, their history, and their faith, but a miracle happened—Babylon actually became a time

Jerusalem may have been where Jesus died, but Galilee is where he lived. By summoning the disciples back home, Jesus is bringing them out