Rev. Dr. Jeff Garrison
This was originally posted in my other blog and written in January 2012, shortly after making this trip. The air is crisp and Orion has dropped into the western sky as we make our way into the Flagstaff train station. The waiting room is nearly filled with passengers and baggage awaiting the eastbound arrival … Read more Coming Home on the Southwest Chief
Jeff Garrison Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church 1 Corinthians 15:12-28 April 28, 2019 In a devotion for last Sunday, Easter Day, Richard Rohr, reminded his readers that “Easter isn’t celebrating a one-time miracle as if it only happened in the body of Jesus and we’re all here to cheer for Jesus.” Sadly, he concludes, that’s … Read more The Resurrection, Part 2
Notes on the Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans Bruce Ezell, ©2003Introduction by Jeff Garrison These questions and answers on the Kirkin come from Elder Bruce Ezell, an elder at Laurinburg Presbyterian Church (North Carolina). It was written as a primer for their Kirkin’ so that everyone (Scots and non-Scots alike) could understand the symbolism behind the … Read more All You Need to Know about the Kirkin
Jeff Garrison Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church Easter Sunday, 2019 1 Corinthians 15:1-11 Resurrection Day! The most holy day in the Christian calendar as we celebrate the risen Christ! And what a glorious day we’re enjoying. Today I begin a series on the resurrection, working through Paul’s final essay in 1st Corinthians? Some scholars divide 1st … Read more The Resurrection
Easter Sunrise Services are held at Landings Harbor Marina this Sunday (April 21) at 6:30 PM. Below is an article that appeared in The Skinnie, March 16, 2018. The Sun Will Come Up The wake-up call came at 4:30 AM Sunday morning. I am staying at a hotel right across from Old Salem … Read more Easter Sunrise Services
Jeff Garrison Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church Mark 2:21-28 April 14, 2019 We’re coming to the last Sunday in our series, “Busy: Reconnecting with an Unhurried God.” I hope you have discovered a freedom to enjoy life and God and not be so hectic about things. Today we celebrate Palm Sunday. Are we too busy for … Read more Give It a Rest
Arthur C. Brooks, Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America for the Culture of Contempt (HarperCollins, 2019), 243 pages, index and notes. In this year’s January Series from Calvin College, I heard Brooks speak. Much of his presentation, it appears, was taken from this book which was released in mid-March. I’m glad … Read more Love Your Enemies
Jeff Garrison Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 April 7, 2019 Now that we have heard the first eight verses of the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, let’s now listen for the next seven verses as I read from The Message translation. Read Ecclesiastes 3:8-15. This chapter is a wonderful poetic … Read more The Cycles and Seasons of Life
I am heading to a conference at Ghost Ranch, a Presbyterian Conference Center in North New Mexico, so there will be no sermon this week. Instead, let me catch up by providing three short (for me) book reviews of works I recently read (or listened to the unabridged audio book). Richard White, The Republic for … Read more Three Books: The Republic for Which It Stands, Meet You in Hell, & Atlas of a Lost World
Jeff Garrison Skidaway Island Presbyterian Church March 24, 2019 Luke 10:38-42 Our morning Gospel reading this morning stands in contrast to our Old Testament lesson. In our first reading, we heard about a Shunamite woman who, out of the goodness of her heart, shows hospitality to Elisha.[1] Not only did she feed and give … Read more Focusing on What’s Important