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Happy Birthday! 

On the first Sunday of March back in 1835, our congregation officially began, dedicated as the “Second Wesleyan Chapel”. A church building was soon under construction, down on Mulberry Street.  

Barely 23 years later, the congregation moved uptown to a brand-new place on Park Ave S. & 22nd St. – a soaring ediface, clothed in marble, with a 210-foot steeple, largely the gift of church trustee Daniel Drew. It was truly a glorious building, but lasted only 40 years. 

“When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him.” – Luke 5:11…Friends, That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: “Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus… It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going.”

“When they had brought their boats to shore, they left everything behind and followed him.” – Luke 5:11…Friends, That is maybe the most frightening phrase in the Bible. Dietrich Bonhoeffer puts it like this in The Cost of Discipleship: “Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus… It is costly because it compels a person to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow where he is going.”

On this blessed Second Sunday of Advent, we look to the coming of — John the Baptist??

Certainly! John the Baptist is the central character of Advent, the star, so to speak. And boy, is his a story to be told.

On this last Sunday of the Christian year, right before the beginning of Advent, we celebrate “The Reign of Christ”, also known as Christ the King Sunday. It has an interesting history. In 1920s Italy, Pope Pius XI was concerned about the rise of a narrow nationalism and fascism at home and abroad, and he wanted to mark a day for the church to emphasize that, as Christians, our primary loyalty is not to a political party, or any leader, or even our nation, but to Jesus Christ.

The gospel story of the woman giving her last two coins to the temple treasury leaves me with some questions. Jesus notices the woman’s generosity, but does he actually approve of her contributing so sacrificially? And why does this widow, offered so little protection by religious or secular law, want to support a system that ignores her and her needs?

Jesus is clear. These are the greatest commandments, and they work together. You can’t love God without loving your neighbor, and that requires loving yourself as well. But how many of us are good at all three?