This Sunday is World Communion Sunday, which has been celebrated the first Sunday of October since the mid-20th century, nearly 80 years. As our United Methodist worship planning website states it, "this day calls the Church to be the universal, inclusive Church".

How do we understand that? What do we do?

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for October 6, 2019 for further thoughts, and plan to share in Holy Communion at our fully open table at 10 AM worship this Sunday.

Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

John Donne's 1624 publication asserts that "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main'. Which means, among other things, that none of us ought to see ourselves as completely cut off from the rest of the world--and that even pertains to what we have, and what we can give.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for September 29, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday. 

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

Who are we in relation to God?  How does God want us to understand—and live out—our relationship?  Jesus—God made human—has some suggestions about this—not only about talking with God, but why we can talk with God in the way he suggests.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for September 22, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday. 

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

If we watch TV game shows, we see it time and time again. Someone hurries to “ring in” to answer the question without hearing the whole question.  Sometimes it works; more often it seems that it doesn’t.  The answer is wrong because the full question hasn’t been listened to.

That seems to be something like what is happening with the sisters Martha and Mary in this passage from Luke.  Mary is all about taking time to listen, and listen thoroughly.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for September 15, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday. 

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

We remember Mr. Rogers as a remarkably caring individual with a real knack for working with children, which he demonstrated on his long-running TV show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”. We would do well to remember that “neighborhood” is a big piece of how Mr. Rogers teaches children—and by extension, adults—to see the world, and live in the world, and interact with others. 

In doing that, he is following up on the insights of Jesus about that same thing.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for September 8, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday. 

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

We've probably all heard the phrase "to know you is to love you".  Is it possible that that is how God--who knows us better than we know ourselves--thinks of us? God knows us, and therefore loves us?

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for September 1, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday.  All are welcome as we celebrate Holy Communion.

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

How is God like singer/guitarist Bonnie Raitt?  Hint--it has to do with love.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for August 25, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday.

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

The word “willing” in the sermon title “The Joy of Willing Justice” has two meanings.  Both are significant for how we live out what the passages from Isaiah and Luke have God and Jesus saying to us.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for August 18, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday.

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

Pastor Bruce and Susan will be out of town on vacation this Sunday, but

McKnight will be blessed and honored by the preaching of Rev. Dr. Susan Moudry, who

is the Western Pennsylvania Coordinator of Clergy and Lay Excellence. Her sermon will

be “Impossible Possibilities, from Ezekiel 37:1-14, the classic “valley of dry bones”

passage—“Can these bones live?”

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for August 11, 2019 for further

thoughts on Susan and on “Impossible Possibilities”. Worship at 10 AM this Sunday.

Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

The Greek word for “body” is “soma”—we’re probably familiar with the word “psychosomatic” that describes how our mental health affects our physical body.  “Soma”/Body is one of the images for the church that was used in the New Testament as the followers of Jesus gathered together

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for August 4, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday, where we will share in Holy Communion, the “Body of Christ”.

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

“Koinonia” is another of the Greek words the New Testament uses that we can translate as “church”.  It has several meanings, however, and they matter in how we understand what it means to “be” church.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for July 28, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday!

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

We find three predominant images for the church in the New Testament, the story of the church’s beginning.  The next three weeks we’ll look at those, with this Sunday’s being the Greek word “ekklesia”—meaning in essence both “assembly” and “called out”.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for July 21, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday!

Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus called 12 people to be "disciples".  At the end of his time on earth, he instructed them to "go and make disciples". And in the book of Acts, we read about the growth of the church--and those who are a part of the church are called "disciples".  Clearly this word is important!

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for July 14, 2019 for further thoughts. See you in worship at 10 AM this Sunday!

Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

This coming Sunday we will celebrate the merger of Millvale United Methodist Church into McKnight United Methodist Church.  The joining together of these two congregations is sort of like the joining together of two lives in a marriage, and this worship service on Sunday will be sort of like the covenant expressed in a wedding.  Holy Communion will be shared as we seal that covenant with the body and blood of Christ.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for July 7, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship, celebrate, covenant, and commune at 10 AM this Sunday!

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

The emotional roller coaster is familiar to us.  Just when it seems everything is going great, all of a sudden something horrible happens. We have felt that we are blessed; then the blessings evaporate in a second.  How do we cope?  How does our faith help when it seems like God is against us?

The experiences of the Old Testament prophet Elijah have some insights for us.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for June 23, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship at 10 AM this Sunday!

                                                               Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

The Christian faith understands God as a “Trinity”. We speak of God in three persons.  Creator, redeemer, sustainer. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It’s kind of complicated.  But what in our lives isn’t complicated?  All of our relationships are—and individual people can at the same time be a parent, a son/daughter, a sibling, the same individual but in different relationships.  Much as God is three “persons”.

Like I said, it’s complicated.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for June 16, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship at 10 AM this Trinity Sunday!

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

Like a graduation, Pentecost is the completion of something, and an acknowledgment of something. Also like a graduation, it is the beginning of something new, which draws on the learning that has been happening.  We’ll explore these realities this coming Sunday.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for June 9, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship at 10 AM this coming Sunday! We will be celebrating Holy Communion.

                                                               Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

Context matters. Sometimes someone will say something confusing, and then later, after some other stuff has happened, we understand it. 

Jesus does this at the Last Supper in John’s version—he says some really confusing stuff, and tells them that later, they’ll “get it”.  He also promises that the Holy Spirit will help them “get it”.

We can “get it” too.  And we should want to “get it”!

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for May 26, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship at 10 AM this coming Sunday!

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce

Is it possible that an energetic walk can help you figure some stuff out that has been confusing you? 

Rev. Amy Wagner will preach at McKnight this Sunday, May 19, and her sermon is titled "Solved by Walking”. It is based on the walk from Jerusalem to Jericho (and as it turns out, back to Jerusalem) from Luke 24:13-35.

Follow this link to the Pastor’s Ponderings for May 19, 2019 for further thoughts. Come worship at 10 AM this coming Sunday!

                                                              Grace and Peace, Pastor Bruce