Our post today is written by Barbara Esselink, a fan of Simon Peter. Peter is my most favorite person in the Bible. Of all the people in the Bible, I relate the most to who I imagine Peter to be. Passionate, hotheaded, speaking and reacting to emotion before thinking, loyal, determined, persistent—- these are all things I understand well. He loved Jesus so much, but still his humanity got the better of him. In his sin and weakness, Peter turned away from Jesus at one of his d

It was still dark-- a darkness that seemed to be never ending. Only a few days before, these brave women who had followed Jesus from Galilee had stood near the cross watching in anguish and dismay as their beloved friend hung, apparently helpless against the powers of both Rome and the Jewish religious leaders. The sky had darkened as they watched. And then, a sword was thrust in his side and he was pronounced dead. The impossible had happened. With him, their hope for a diff

The air on this Friday feels different. It is thick with a silence that demands our full attention. I often speak of the importance of leaning into the quiet but today that quiet is not just a practice. It is a reality. The world has reached a terrifying pause. The light has flickered and gone out. We stand at the edge of a mystery so deep and so heavy that words almost feel like an intrusion. Today is about the God who loved us enough to stop being distant. It is about the K

(This week's post is written by Pastor Michael Smith) What comes to mind when you think of the Last Supper?  Perhaps it’s the narrative of Passion week: the triumphal entry, cleansing the temple, then celebrating Passover with the disciples.  Or is it Davinci’s famous painting, with all its mystery and tension and symbolism?  Perhaps it’s not so much a thought as a feeling: that ominous sense that Friday’s coming .  Jesus will be betrayed and arrested. He’ll leave his discipl