Lessons: Acts 9:1-20 Revelation 5:11-14 John 21:1-19 Psalm 30 What do we mean when we use the word “Conversion”? In contemporary parlance, we mean a number of different things. Some of the meanings are mechanical: we can convert a car so that, instead of running on gasoline, it runs on diesel. Some of themContinueContinue reading “Third Sunday of Easter by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Tag Archives: The Rev. Martin Elfert
Easter Day by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 65:17-25 Acts 10:34-43 Luke 24:1-12 Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 Alleluia, Christ is risen! Sixteen days ago, our longtime cat, Maggie, died. Maggie had been with my wife, Phoebe, and me since 1999, she was very nearly seventeen years old, and she was a kind of living link to another time in our lives:ContinueContinue reading “Easter Day by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Maundy Thursday by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Exodus 12:1-14 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Psalm 116:1, 10-17 One of the many talents of my friend Doug was his ability to sound like an FM Radio Announcer. He would drop his voice down half an octave and, somehow, broadening and richening it, before declaring: Welcome to the drive at Five.ContinueContinue reading “Maundy Thursday by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Palm Sunday & Sunday of the Passion by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29 Philippians 2:5-11 Luke 19:28-40 * Then the whole multitude began to praise God joyfully, saying, Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Then they brought Jesus to the place the place of a skull. And they crucified him. I was a youngContinueContinue reading “Palm Sunday & Sunday of the Passion by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Fifth Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:4b-14 John 12:1-8 Psalm 126 Do you have a favourite smell? An odour that just delights you when it makes it to your nose? I have several smells that I really like. I love the smell that the earth makes when rain falls upon it on a hot day, theContinueContinue reading “Fifth Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Third Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Exodus 3:1-15 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 Luke 13:1-9 Psalm 63:1-8 This is a story about you. In the book in which the story is written down, the lead character is given the name “Moses.” That’s because stories are easiest to tell – and easiest for you and for me to hear – when theContinueContinue reading “Third Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
First Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 When I was 20 years old, I decided to take a year away from university and move from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Calgary, Alberta, where I hoped to find work as a stagehand. I arranged to rent a room in a house, IContinueContinue reading “First Sunday in Lent by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Ash Wednesday by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Joel 2:1-2,12-17 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 Psalm 103:8-14 * Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. What an extraordinary sentence. What an unreal thing for one person to say to another. We could probably spend the rest of the day unpacking that sentence. We could write a bookContinueContinue reading “Ash Wednesday by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Second Sunday after the Epiphany by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Isaiah 62:1-5 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 John 2:1-11 Psalm 36:5-10 * I love weddings. I love the coming together of family and friends from far and near, everybody who cares about and is connected with the couple gathered together in a room like this one. I love the intersection of joy and wistful sorrow, the way that we look atContinueContinue reading “Second Sunday after the Epiphany by The Rev. Martin Elfert”
Second Sunday after Christmas by The Rev. Martin Elfert
Lessons: Jeremiah 31:7-14 Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a Luke 2:41-52 Psalm 84