Blog

Jesus has known this moment of betrayal is coming. Matthew 26:47-56 March 22, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Touch can be as casual as bumping into someone while waiting in line; as clinical as having your pulse taken at a blood drive; or as tender as a toddler grasping their parents’ hand. “The Bible includes touch,” Debra Bendis reminds us, “in all of its [variations] — compassion, love, friendship, violence, and fear. There is the bleeding woman who risks touching Jesus’ hem with

So when Matthew says Jesus went to Gethsemane, maybe it is just a place … or maybe he is symbolically telling us that our Lord is feeling weighted down by his mission and squeezed by human powers on all sides. Matthew 26:36-46 March 15, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright We are nearing the end of Holy Week. The tension is building. The shadows are lengthening. After a last meal with his disciples, Jesus took them with him to a place to pray. The gospel of John calls this place a garden.

...this meal was not a historical re-enactment, it was an act of love, a gift! Matthew 26:6-13 and 26-29 March 8, 2026 Dr. Todd R Wright It has been over four decades, but I can still remember the meal clearly … well, actually not the meal itself but the paying of the bill. We were on our way back from a camping trip in Canada and my grandfather thought we should have a good meal. In fact, he had been planning for it. He had saved the money from serving as a bus driver for th

... I wonder if Jesus’ movements – overturning tables and driving out people – were not just enacted parables, but prayer, … and both efforts at teaching! Mark 11:15-18 March 1, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Holy Week is now well underway. The donkey is back in the barn. The fig tree is cursed and withered. Tears have been shed over the Holy City and its inhabitants. And Mark says that Jesus entered the Temple. Well, of course he did! He and thousands of other pilgrims had come to

Holy Week begins with a parade – Jesus entering Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey to the cheers of a crowd shouting Hosanna! Matthew 21:18-22 and Luke 19:41-44 February 22, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Holy Week begins with a parade – Jesus entering Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey to the cheers of a crowd shouting Hosanna! Billy Collins captures the mood in the opening lines of his poem “The Parade”: “How exhilarating it was to march along the great boulevards in the sunflash of trump

So how would you fill in the blank in the sermon title? The transfiguration of … Jesus, right? “Transfiguration”, giclée art print on canvas of modern icon by Ivanka Demchuk Exodus 24:12-18 and Matthew 17:1-9 February 15, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Welcome to the end of the season of Epiphany – nearly 8 weeks of light and illumination! Welcome back to the mountain-top – that place where God is regularly encountered! Welcome to Transfiguration Sunday! Do you remember how in schoo

Just, you are salt and light! “Circle of Light” by Carol Aust Matthew 5:13-20 February 8, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Who are you? We could all answer that question in a multitude of ways. I’m a … son, husband, father, and now, grandfather; pastor and part-time lifeguard; Rotarian, PWV committee chair, and occasional volunteer at Habitat and Common Grounds; Appalachian Trail and Camino de Santiago hiker, swimmer, kayaker, juggler; an introvert, an optimist, a dreamer, a creative

He [Matthew] gives specific geographical details when he sets up this story. Jesus’ presence matters, but so do the places. And he wants you to notice them! [1] “Calling Disciples” by He Qi, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN Matthew 4:12-23 January 25, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Place matters. When people sing “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong,” they are testifying to a complicated relationship with

The writer of the Gospel of John tells a different story from his fellow writers – he’s got a different message, different characters, different details – so when you notice something you’ve never heard in one of the other gospels, it is worth digging into. “Colorful Little Lamb Face” by Sharon Cummings John 1:29-42 January 18, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright The writer of the Gospel of John tells a different story from his fellow writers – he’s got a different message, different cha

How will we live out our baptism in this new year? “Baptism of Jesus” by Castera Bazile, in Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral, Port au Prince Haiti - mostly destroyed by an earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. Matthew 3:13-17 January 11, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Every year we gather at the river to retell the story of Jesus’ baptism and remember our own. Can you picture the scene? Matthew M

But, of course, it is more than that – it is a call to arise, to stand up and be noticed, to shine! Isaiah 60:1+6 and Ephesians 3:1-12 January 4, 2026 Dr. Todd R. Wright Most years, Epiphany means a visit from the Magi. We love their story – Matthew gives us just enough information about them to spark our imagination and then allows us the freedom to fill in the rest of the details; they bring mysterious and symbolic gifts; and they arrive with a flourish wearing exotic cloth

... as we stand on this bridge, I want you to hear what God’s voice repeats, and what people of faith claim, over and over, to people across the centuries: do not fear! A selection of scriptures featuring the word “fear” December 28, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright Welcome to the first Sunday after Christmas, the last Sunday of the calendar year, and the bridge from one year to the next! You have heard a representative litany of scriptures. I could have chosen others. There are a lot

No place? For a baby? We bristle at the thought. How could there be no place? Isaiah 9:2-7 and Luke 2:1-14 December 24, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright Luke’s version of the birth narrative contains one of the most heartbreaking phrases in scripture. He reports that when Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, she “laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.” No place? For a baby? We bristle at the thought. How could there be no place? Oh, we heard Luke when h

I’m confused. What will we call this baby – Jesus or Emmanuel? Matthew 1:18-25 December 21, 2025     Dr. Todd R. Wright Did you ever notice that Joseph never speaks? His actions do! Still, it takes an angelic intervention to get him to do what he ends up doing. One scholar observes, “Angels usually get involved in the biblical story only when heavy lifting is involved. I think it’s safe to say that the [time] leading up to Christ’s birth was not one blissful baby-shower after

Are you ready? Ready to pause and reflect? Ready to wrestle with this story? Ready to repent? Matthew 3:1-12 December 7, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright   Every year, during Advent, we’re confronted with a voice crying out in the wilderness! It draws us, just as it did the crowds Matthew says came “from Jerusalem and all Judea”. Jill Duffield wonders why they came: “Are they simply curious? Perhaps. However, we learn in the Gospels that they do more than gawk. They stay. They listen.

The prophets we read during Advent have a different vision. They stride into history and announce, in no uncertain terms, that there is a God in this universe, and this God is not neutral on matters of good and evil. Isaiah 2:1-5 and Romans 13:11-14 November 30, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright Advent is a season that draws us to look back – to remember the stories associated with the birth of our savior – the stunning annunciation, the census-forced travel to Bethlehem, Cousin John’s

Paul implies that if you work your way through this checklist of holiness, “the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.” “La Ofrenda, or, The Offering” by Saturnino Herrán, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN Psalm 100 and Philippians 4:2-7 November 23, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright In her novel, Gilead, Maryilynne Robinson writes about a young couple walking after a rain: “On some impulse, plain exuberance, I supp

Paul sees idleness as a threat: He cautions the Thessalonians to keep away from those believers who are living in idleness. “Idle Hands” by Will Barnet 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 November 16, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright Ninety years ago, in 1935, Bertrand Russell wrote an essay, “In Praise of Idleness”. In it he argues against the glorification of work and for a four-hour workday. (Can you imagine?) He believed less work would mean more time for leisure, creativity, and reflection.

I wonder if Zacchaeus was weary of the tangle of his life. I wonder if he was stung by his neighbors’ low opinion of him, their hostile whispers. [1] “Zacchaeus” by Rev. Lauren Wright Pittman, A Sanctified Art, LLC Luke 19:1-10 November 9, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright We all know the story of Zacchaeus, thanks to a song many of us learned as children. The basic facts of the story are simple: Zacchaeus, a tax collector, climbs a tree to see Jesus. Jesus notices him and invites hims

Luke indicates that Jesus grew up poor. When he was presented at the Temple, the offering his parents gave – two young pigeons – was what people gave if they couldn’t afford a lamb. Luke 6:20-31 November 2, 2025 Dr. Todd R. Wright “Blessed are you who are poor…” – that’s how Jesus starts. Well, actually, to begin, he spent a night on a mountaintop praying. When dawn came, he chose twelve people from among the disciples who had been following him, and named them apostles – sen