John 13:1-17, 31b-35
As we come together this Maundy Thursday. George and I will have the opportunity to wash some of your feet….
(NOTE: we apologize for the poor sound quality of this recording – we had some technical problems.)

The Rev. Candy Snively discusses Luke 4:14-21, the beginning of Jesus’s ministry, and the relevance of his message today.

The Rev. Candy Snively reflects on Luke 3:7-18 and Philippians 4:4-7: “So anyone feeling stressed these days? ‘Tis the season of total busyness when there are just not enough hours in your day to get everything accomplished, and there’s nothing to put you in the Christmas spirit quite like a good lecture from John the Baptist: ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’ Somehow I don’t think you’d find that sentiment on a Hallmark card. No where does the difference between John the Baptist and Jesus stand out so clearly.”

The Rev. Candy Snively considers James 5:13-20 and the transformative nature of the Lord’s Prayer: “We live in a world all too full of injustice, hunger, malice, and evil. This prayer cries out for justice, bread, forgiveness, and deliverance. When Jesus gave his disciples this prayer, he was giving them part of his own breath, his own life, his own prayers.”

The Rev. Candy Snively discusses John 6:35, 41-51: “Have you ever wondered why doesn’t God speak up? Or let alone, why doesn’t God step up? The idea of leaving everything up to God may seem naive to us during critical times.”

The Rev. Candy Snively discusses Ephesians 2:11-22 and the dividing walls of “hostility between us.”

The Rev. Candy Snively shares a personal story about a remarkable act of love: “Laying down our lives isn’t so much about dying for someone else as it is living for someone else, putting their needs ahead of our own as an act of love. And that kind of act of love is the basis for a little story I’d like to tell you about.” (Today’s Gospel reading: John 10:11-18)

The Rev. Candy Snively discusses Mark 1:21-28: “Jesus has everything to do with us. He stands before us as the mirror image of who we can become. He calls us into our true self, the one made in the image and likeness of God.”

Today’s gospel reading has been resonating around in my head for several weeks. Peter stepping out of the boat to walk to Jesus is probably one of the best known stories. You all have probably heard it preached many times over the years. So my dilemma was to find a new way of presenting it. (Matthew 14:22-33)

The Rev. Candy Snively discusses Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30: “We can easily buy into thinking that productivity reigns, that the measure of our lives will be how we have worked hard and made a good living.”