Jesus goes to stay in the home of Zacchaeus the tax collector. Zacchaeus then says he’ll give half of all he has to the poor. We can read this as something that will happen in the future or something that’s describing what Zacchaeus already does.

One of the parsonage cats wanted some belly rubs this morning #cats

In Luke 19, the crowd grumbles when Jesus goes to stay in the house of Zacchaeus, a tax collector. Why didn’t people like tax collectors? How were they sinners? #bible #jesus #christian #church #unitedchurchofchrist

In Luke 19, Jesus calls Zacchaeus by name, and Zacchaeus joyfully responds. #joy #jesus #bible #christian #church

#northernlights on the #middleburyct green

In Luke 19, Zacchaeus runs and climbs a tree in order to see Jesus. What was he looking for? Who would we climb a tree to see? #jesus #christian #bible #searching #unitedchurchofchrist

Checked my yard, and there’s no pot of gold #rainbow

In Luke 19:1-10, Jesus meets a chief tax collector names Zacchaeus, and Jesus says he came to seek out and save the lost. What does it mean for Zacchaeus to be found? What does Zacchaeus teach us about the nature of salvation? #salvation #jesus #christian #faith #unitedchurchofchrist

In Luke 19, it’s grammatically unclear whether Zacchaeus is short or whether Jesus is short. What would it mean for Jesus, the messiah to be short? Jesus is already a subversive figure, so being short would fit #jesus #bible #masculinity #christian #unitedchurchofchrist

In Luke 6, Jesus cast a vision for God’s coming kingdom. And the heart of that vision is the good news of how much every single human life matters to God. #jesus #kingdom #hope #christian #unitedchurchofchrist

All Saints’ Day for us reformed Protestants is about celebrate all the faithful people of God from past and present, and a Saint is any faithful person ordinary or extraordinary, who lives the values of God’s kingdom, the values we see in the beatitudes #jesus #christian #allsaints

In Luke 6, Jesus preaches both blessings and woes. What does Jesus mean when he says “woe to you who are rich?” Jesus is describing the great reversal, the first being las and last being first, that will occur when the kingdom of God is fully here. #kingdom #jesus #wealth #christian

In the Luke 6 beatitudes Jesus describes the poor, hungry, and persecuted as being blessed. Those are statements about what is and what shall be when the kingdom is fully here. Some of the signs of God’s kingdom are the poor being lifted up and the hungry being filled. #kingdom #jesus #christian

What can we do to help while people aren’t receiving SNAP/food assistance during the shutdown? We can donate to our local food banks who are experiencing increased demand. Items are welcome, but often money is best for food banks #SNAP #loveyourneighbor #jesus #christian

In Luke 6, Jesus says “blessed are you who are poor” and “blessed are you who are hungry now.” He doesn’t qualify those statement by talking about work or people deserving things. Our nation has failed to take Jesus at his word as we face people not receiving food aid they desperately need

Beautiful #sunset this evening on the green

Jesus says “blessed are you who are poor” and “blessed are you who are hungry now.” He doesn’t say “blessed are the poor who deserve help” or “blessed are the poor who work” or blessed are the poor who have never made a mistake” #SNAP #Jesus

Jesus says “blessed are you who are poor” in Luke 6, but with the freeze of SNAP benefits the poor in our nation are going hungry, and our national discourse often demonizes the poor. #SNAP #Jesus #Christian

In Luke 6 Jesus says blessed are you who are poor, but as of Novemeber 1st, many poor people in our country are no longer receiving food assistance because of the government shutdown. And our national discourse about the poor is far from Jesus saying “blessed are you who are poor.” #SNAP #jesus

In Luke 6, Jesus says “blessed are you who are poor” & “blessed are you who are hungry now.” He doesn’t say there are any exceptions. He means all people in those conditions. He’s calling us to the hard work of following him and loving neighbor #SNAP #love #christian #jesus #unitedchurchofchrist

In Luke 6, Jesus says the poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted are blessed. This is Jesus declaring that people society has said are valueless are valuable to God. #jesus #bible #love #christian #unitedchurchofchrist

The Church has long been uncomfortable with Jesus saying in Luke 6 “blessed are you who are poor.” But Jesus isn’t talking about moral goodness; instead he’s declaring that people society views as valueless are valuable to God. #jesus #bible #SNAP #christian #unitedchurchofchrist

The church has long preferred Matthew’s version of the beatitudes because Luke’s version is radical. Matthew talked about spiritual poverty, but Luke talks about actual poverty. #jesus #christian #bible

The beatitudes in Luke 6 are some of the most challenging of Jesus’ teachings. What does it mean to say the poor are blessed? What does it mean to say the poor are blessed as so many people are soon to go without food? The beatitudes are where Jesus preached the values of the kingdom #SNAP #jesus

Our God is in the savior business. No matter who you are, the love of God, the salvation of God, and the Kingdom of God are for you. #love #kingdom #christian #grace #unitedchurchofchrist

Our God is all about transforming people and situations, repairing broken things, and giving second chances. #hope #transformation #faith #jesus #unitedchurchofchrist

Is Halloween pagan? Halloween is part of the Christian celebration of All Hallowtide which is the 3 feast days of All Hallows Eve, All Saints, and All Souls. It’s not pagan. Dressing up grew out of a belief where this was a “thin” time of year between life and death. #halloween

In Luke 18, the sinful tax collector goes down to his home justified because he’s put his hope in God. The good news of the gospel is repentance and transformation, that God transforms people and situations #repentance #goodnews #christian #jesus #unitedchurchofchrist

Our worship and faith is meant to make us more like Christ and to transform us to love the people God loves. If our faith is leading us to despise others, we’ve missed the point of the gospel. #faith #jesus #love #unitedchurchofchrist #christian

In Luke 18, the Pharisee in the parable is self righteous. Many Christians today are also self righteous, using their faith to puff themselves up so they can put others down #faith #christian #hypocrisy #worship #church

Our worship of God is meant to lead to us living out God’s law in the rest of our lives. We’re not supposed to praise God on Sunday and then forget about serving others the rest of the week #worship #faith #bible #christian #church

In Luke 18, the Pharisee says “I thank you God that I’m not like other people.” His worship is serving to make him feel good about himself and breed contempt of others. That’s not how things are meant to work #worship #church #sermon #bible #christian

1 source on Puritan worship practices notes that the length of a minister’s prayer was often used as a metric of his holiness. So, services with lots of ministers could run very long with everyone praying as long as possible. It’s an example of the danger of using our worship to show off

seeing a lot of posts making fun of people who are about the lose SNAP benefits by saying awful stuff like this will cure obesity and people should just work harder. Christ explicitly commands us to care for the poor, and this song gets at how those comments feel for real kids growing up poor

In Luke 18, the issue with the Pharisee is that he’s missed the point of a life of faith. Faith and religious practice is meant to make us more like Christ. This is the process of sanctification. #jesus #church #faith #bible #christian

In Luke 18, Jesus says the tax collector goes down to his home justified, but tax collectors were people who really weren’t doing the right thing #jesus #bible #christian #church #parable

In Luke 18, Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee & the tax collector. We’re familiar with Jesus critiquing Pharisees, but Pharisees weren’t bad people. They were typically good, respectable, upstanding members of society. A Pharisee today would be a pillar of our church #bible #jesus #parable

People in the present day who hear the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector are used to Jesus being hard on Pharisees and him offering tax collectors hope. But the parable would have been shocking in Jesus’ day #bible #jesus #parable #christian #church

In Luke 18, why does Jesus say the sinful tax collector goes down to his home justified? We look at what it means to be self righteous instead of actually righteous and the danger of using our faith to build ourselves up at the expense of others #faith #hypocrisy #jesus #bible #christian

Welcoming refugees was a key aspect of the success of the Protestant reformation

More #fall on the #middleburyct green

Waiting for God’s coming kingdom is a long game. We need to keep praying to have strength for living out faith in the world. But, God is at work in the world, and the coming kingdom is sure #hope #faith #prayer #kingdom #jesus

It’s looking like fall today! The tree in the parsonage yard still has a few days before hitting peak color #fall

Jesus tells us to keep praying and keep crying out because eventually the unjust judges of the world are moved to relent after going enough rounds with truth. #bible #jesus #christian #hope #prayer

We’re promised God’s kingdom is coming, but we just don’t know precisely when #hope #kingdom #christian #jesus #unitedchurchofchrist

Sometimes we can feel like the widow in Luke 18 where we ask and ask for justice but don’t see justice done. Scripture doesn’t offer easy answers for why the wicked prosper, but we are given clear instruction on how to live #prayer #faith #justice #christian #unitedchurchofchrist

There are times when it seems like God isn’t listening to our prayers. John Calvin talks about this as it seeking like God is asleep. #prayer #faith #church #unitedchurchofchrist #christian

Sometimes it feels like God is hearing our prayers, and other times it feels like God is asleep. #prayer #christian #faith #unitedchurchofchrist #church

At the heart of all the Bible is the bold assumption that we can address God and God hears our prayers #prayer #faith #christian #unitedchurchofchrist #bible

In the parable of the persistent widow, the widow asks for justice from an unjust judge who eventually grants her justice because he gets worn out by hearing her appeals. Jesus says we can take comfort because the one we’re asking for justice from is God. #prayer #faith #bible #jesus