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  Ezekiel 39:25-29 Listen to today’s devotional The Jackals are a group of superfans at Spurs games. If you get a chance to meet them, they hand you a paper before the game starts. It has chants, responses, traditions, and moments when everyone stands together. It teaches you to participate in the game's experience instead of just watching it. I thought about that when I read from Ezekiel this morning. God says through the prophet, "I will no longer hide my face from them, when I pour out my Spirit upon the house of Israel." Notice what God promises. Yes, the people will have renewal and forgiveness. But they'll also have communion with God. The Spirit of God is drawing people back into a shared life with God. Too many of us treat faith as sitting quietly in the stands while heaven performs on the court, so to speak. But the Spirit does something deeper. The Spirit teaches us the rhythms of communion with God. The Spirit shows us when and how to stand in courage, to c...

  1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Listen to today’s devotional There's a strange habit in the church. On the biggest days like Christmas or Easter ,  when our sanctuaries are full, and the energy is high, somebody inevitably asks, “Should we skip communion…to save time?” The apostle Paul doesn’t give us that option in 1 Corinthians 11. Admittedly, he doesn't tell us how often to have the sacred meal. But he does say, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” That means we shouldn't lose sight of something that happens at Communion. We have to stop thinking of Communion as a filler. Scripture says it is its own proclamation. It’s the sermon you can taste and hold. It’s embodied theology because you don’t just hear it, you receive it. And if that’s true, then what are we saying when we skip it on the very days we celebrate incarnation and resurrection, especially just to get people out the door earlier? What are we proclaimin...

  1 Samuel 16:11-13 Listen to today’s devotional It's a meaningful question to ask a congregation after communion: "Has everyone been served?" Our first inclination might be to assume that, yes, everyone has been served. After all, we've seen everyone walk down and receive the bread and cup. The music has stopped, and the pastor has put everything back into place. It seems complete. But the question reaches further than the sanctuary. It stretches beyond those of us seated in the pews and into the lives of people we haven't noticed, the people we haven't named or invited to the table yet. When Samuel came to anoint a new king in 1 Samuel 16, Jesse presented his sons one by one. They were strong and capable. Obvious choices for a new king. And yet, something was missing. "Are all your sons here?" Samuel asked. That sense of incompleteness stirred the question for him. Of course, there was still one more. David. The one left in the field. The one forgo...

  Acts 9:10-19 Listen to today's devotional Acts 9 doesn’t tell us what Paul said after his world fell apart. The Bible mentions Ananias's reluctance. Other than that, we skip right past how Paul and the others are processing what's happening. The detail that struck me as I reflected on that today was that, in the end, Paul ate.  That seems too ordinary to be a part of this grand story. But before Paul did anything in Jesus' name, he sat at a table and ate. After days of fasting, fear, and disorientation, his entry into the Christian community was not a sermon or a new beginner's class. It was a meal.  Of course, he needed his strength. He waited a few days before leaving. But eating was not just about calories. It was acceptance and trust. On one side, Paul was saying, "I will receive what you are offering," and on the other, the community is saying, "You belong here now." We love conversion stories. We celebrate baptism Sundays. We count decisi...

  Luke 24:30-31 Listen to today's devotional When I went for my treatments, I knew I’d be away from home for a while. I didn’t expect how much I would miss the small comforts, especially shared meals. One evening, I received a text message. A friend and colleague from Nigeria had sent another friend to visit me with Nigerian food. It was a great spread, and it was a kind gesture I will always remember. That meal reminded me that food communicates in much the same way language does. It’s how we say, “You’re not alone.” Our basic need for food is a powerful reminder of our shared humanity. When our hunger is not satisfied, we all experience loss. Sharing food and meals, then, becomes more than just a means of nourishment. It becomes an act of recognizing our common life together. My friend couldn’t be with me in person, but through a shared meal, he showed solidarity, care, and friendship. Throughout Scripture, meals carry sacred meaning. Abraham welcomed three strangers by preparing...

  Psalm 139:1-6 Listen to today's devotional Stevie Wonder's song  Isn't She Lovely  celebrates the gift of his newborn daughter. The joy of the song comes out of life born out of the action and communion of love. Love through connection. That's what we believe about God, too. Wherever God is, whatever God is, God is with you. God is with us. That's an astounding tenet of our faith. John Wesley said that it was the best of all things on his deathbed. Our faith proclaims a God who is relational, communal and present. That shows us what love truly is. Often, we reduce love to a feeling. Culture depicts love as mostly emotion. But scripture pushes us deeper. Love isn't less than feeling, but it is so, so much more. Love is connection. And God is that connection. In the Trinity, for example, we glimpse a God who is love through eternal relationship. That God is willing to connect with us is the greatest signpost to love. God is not distant. God is here, connected to...

  Ephesians 2:11-22 Listen to today's devotional As an eleven-year-old, I didn’t understand what I was watching in November 1989. I saw crowds of people standing around and on a wall. They cheered as they chipped away at it with hammers and pickaxes. Then a big chunk of it fell to the ground. I remember how excited a TV announcer was in a commercial later on. He was selling pieces of the Berlin Wall. But I didn’t know the history or the tension that wall represented. So, the joy of destroying such a powerful symbol of division went over my head. It doesn’t anymore. The Berlin Wall was more than just concrete. It stood for years of hostility, separation, and fear. When it came down, people celebrated freedom, unity, and the hope of something better. That’s the same kind of hope scripture points to in Ephesians 2. Jesus tore down the wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, making peace where there had been only division. Unfortunately, we’re still surrounded by walls today. Wall...

  1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Listen to today's devotional It was my job to plan worship for a community outreach project. The weather looked like we would be able to be outside for this special gathering. Only, there weren't many large gathering spaces to choose from. So, had things worked out, we would have set up on the community basketball court. Before the weather changed our plans, I had envisioned our communion setup. Our table would be a graffiti-covered concrete bench. Personally, it would be a symbol of God's willingness to meet us on our terms. Christ became flesh to dwell among us, after all. As Jesus traveled, he didn't only meet in synagogues and in the temple. He met with sinners at their tables and their spaces. The kingdom of God has come and it may surprise us where it's willing to be. We ended up meeting inside. So, no concrete stained-glass altar. Even though it would have been a powerful visual, our communion was just as meaningful inside as it would...

  1 Corinthians 11:17-22 Communion can be one of those practices that causes great division in the church. Sounds absurd, doesn't it? But across faith traditions how we practice communion is important. So important we argue with each other and even break communion with each other. Now, it's easy to discount the whys and hows of a different tradition. Before you do that, make sure you understand their theological approach to communion. The apostle Paul addressed communion practices in the Corinthian church. Specifically, he called out the greediness and selfishness of some in the congregation. In today's passage, Paul alludes to those who are wealthy and have more. They take the elements of communion, but "it is not really to eat the Lord's supper" (1 Corinthians 11:20). As best we can tell, the communion practice of the Corinthians included a full meal of sorts. So, when the wealthy of the congregation assembled for communion, they had their fill. And more. Di...

This was my message for All Saints Sunday.  For several years, we've used a special communion cloth for the table. The cloth itself is basic, but every year we've added the names of our loved ones and friends who have passed away. We use the cloth as a reminder of our continued shared communion.  It's a powerful image for me. When I was preaching this week, seeing a few particular names got to me. I'm grateful for what they know and see today, and for the faith we still share and will always share.  Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube Stay blessed...john

  Jeremiah 3:6-14 In scripture, the image of a faithful marriage is a reflection of our communion with God. And God's faithfulness to us. Of course, the opposite is true, too. We know what adultery is and what it does to a family. Do we know what unfaithfulness does to God? Thankfully, God receives his adulterine children. But God also knows who we are. A parent can sense when her child just wants to return to good graces. The child will say they are sorry. They may even clean their room or take out the trash. When Mom or Dad seem satisfied, the child carries on like before. God's people fit that bill. Israel had turned from God and Judah followed her example. Notice words like divorce, faithless and "prostituted herself" in today's reading. God saw how the people chose to live and saw their lives as adulterous. This was adultery in the extreme. Still, the Lord told Irsrael, "I am your husband" (Jeremiah 3:14). Judah, apparently, said they were sorry. Wh...