Shedding Some Light

Text Me?

During Lenten family devotions, we shared with our grandchildren the story of Jesus’ appearance before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Our son led the devotion, and he included the story of Pilate washing his hands before the crowd and saying he wanted nothing more to do with Jesus. During discussion time, Cory, age 4, asked to hear part of the story one more time: “Tell me again,” he said, “What did Palm Pilate say?”

Sharon Willweber
Terra Bella, Calif.

Play it Again, Sam!

Some years ago a congregation I served was the mother church for a mission start. Some of our good members lived near the new start. One family in particular was torn: Should they join the mission congregation or continue as members of our own? They couldn’t decide what course of action was the “right” thing to do. They attended our early service and then the late service at the mission congregation.

Finally, they decided to become members at the new location. “The sermons are so similar to your own,” they said. “The words sound so familiar. It makes us feel right at home.”

What they didn’t know at the time was that the mission’s pastor frequently didn’t begin work on his sermon before Saturday evening, sometimes rather late Saturday evening. I often took pity on him and discussed with him what I knew about the text. On this particular Sunday, his sermon was the result of an extended Saturday-night telephone conversation that he relied on heavily the next morning.

No wonder the words sounded familiar!

Rev. Phillip Bohlken
Caldwell, Idaho