Author: Beth Haile

1 KGS 17:10-16 PS 146:7, 8-9, 9-10 HEB 9:24-28 MK 12:38-44 In approaching our gospel for this week, there are a couple important points to highlight. First, the first half of the passage is clearly about hypocrisy. The scribes...

IS 53:10-11 PS 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 HEB 4:14-16 MK 10:35-45 This week’s gospel seems obvious in its moral message. Our passage from Mark offers two main lessons. First, we have a lesson about the centrality of the cross in the...

NM 11:25-29 PS 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14 JAS 5:1-6 MK 9:38-43, 45, 47-48 There is a famous “marshmallow experiment” conducted at Stanford during the early 70s that studied the ability of children to delay or defer gratification....

JOS 24:1-2A, 15-17, 18B PS 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 EPH 5:21-32 JN 6:60-69 Last week, I visited the Alamo with my family. At this former mission-turned fortress, Colonel Travis, who was only 26 at the time, led a fatal stand...

Jer 23:1-6 Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 Eph 2:13-18 Mark 6:30-34 I dread election years. I dread the soundbites that distort a politician’s message. I dread the pandering of politicians to powerful special interest groups, leading...