This Easter, Pastor Dennis Allan reflects on the way that Jesus, in his resurrected body, appears to Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and Thomas. They had seen Jesus had die. They knew his body had been buried. And then, on the… Read More »He’s Not Done Here Yet
This week, Pastor Dennis Allan walks through the story of Jesus’s final week from the perspective of the crowd who received Jesus with shouts of “Hosanna!” as he entered Jerusalem and, less than a week later, shouted “Crucify Him!” How does one crowd receive Jesus… Read More »When Jesus Doesn’t Do What We Want
When Jesus is crucified there is a group of women who position themselves near the Cross and bear witness to Jesus’s agonizing death while all the other disciples are in hiding. These women show up at Jesus’s tomb, ready to tend to His body, only… Read More »Faithful Presence
This week, Pastor Dennis Allan continues our Lent series by talking through a story found in John 18-19. Jesus is brought by the Jewish religious leaders to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor in Jerusalem, in the hopes that Pilate will condemn Jesus to death. The… Read More »No Friend of Caesar
This week, we trace Peter’s story from the moment Jesus first called him while he was fishing in the Sea of Galilee to the moment Jesus restores Peter, after he had denied Jesus three times, over a meal while. In Peter we see a person… Read More »Grace Pursues Us
We know how Judas’s story ends before it even begins. The first time Matthew introduces Judas in his gospel, he does it by naming him this way: “Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.” But what if we slowed down long enough to see Judas as something… Read More »Grace Awaits
In Deuteronomy 5, Moses is reminding the Israelites to follow the Law and, in particular, the Ten Commandments. When Moses speaks the command to observe the Sabbath, the reason he gives for observing it is different than the reason God gave to Moses in Exodus.… Read More »Sabbath as Liberation
Why is it so hard for many of us to stop and rest? Sabbath is a good gift that God has given to His people, a gift that Jesus and His disciples embraced, and yet many of us either won’t rest or feel like we… Read More »Sabbath as Trust
This week, Dennis Allan explores the way that practicing Sabbath is a form of active resistance against dehumanizing systems and structures. We’re immersed in a culture that values productivity, efficiency, and seems to reward exhaustion, almost like it’s a badge of honor. We’re told time… Read More »Sabbath as Resistance
This week, Dennis Allan discusses the way prayer is meant to be done in community and how it’s supposed to expand outward. Jesus invites His people to come to God and ask for the things they want, to be vulnerable and honest as they express… Read More »Prayer that Bears Burdens