United Church of Pittsford

Luke 19:1-10

And so we have a castle / a building made of boxes of cereal; cereal that will eventually reach the homes of persons who need food. Your generosity is to be commended and the display, the visual is also a great idea.

Now you might have received an e-mail from Scott Hanson recently reminding us to bring cereal today…and also including information and statistics that this castle / building could not be ‘taller than Pastor Dave’…therefore it needed to be around ‘three to four feet’ tall!

Mark 14:12-16; 22-26

Family dinners are significant occasions in our lives.  Each of us can remember such family gatherings; a meal shared and conversations enjoyed.  And those gatherings – often – are remembered because of a certain menu:  for Marian and me:
with Uncle Ralph and Aunt Frances – stuffed pork chops
with Uncle Donald and Aunt Viola – Spanish rice and a pineapple ring with cottage cheese on a lettuce leaf on a salad plate,
with my older Sister – escalloped potatoes and ham.

Matthew 15:21-31 and II Kings 5:1-4; 9-15

Our gospel reading for this morning, from Matthew’s Gospel, is a text with which I have had a love/hate relationship for many years.  It disturbed me almost every time I read it and reflected on it.

In some ways, it made no sense to me:  portraying Jesus as harsh, insensitive and cold.  In other ways, it was full of rich, deep meaning and significance!  Let’s take a look at this text together this morning.

Psalm 46:1-5; 10-11 and Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Today’s morning meditation is a bifurcated one: divided into two themes – two branches:
one, a moment to remember the tenth anniversary of 9/11 and one, a moment to look ahead to the beginning of another Church School and Christian nurture year!

Acts 1:6-8 and Acts 2:41-47

Let me tell you a story!

Jason (age 9) was not happy at home. He did not like all the rules and regulations his parents had for him – so he decided to run away. He was sure he could do better by himself. So he put some clothes in a little bag, a couple packages of Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer – and left home. He walked for quite a long time. He began to feel tired so he sat down on the end of a park bench.