November 3, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | 1 John 1:1-5, 1 Thess 4:13-18, Heb. 12:1-3 Abuelito John writes to a diverse community of churches in 1 John in the latter part of his life. He writes as an old man to churches that had not been eyewitnesses of Jesus, thus highlighting that they had […]
October 6, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Psalm 139 v1-16 Belonging begins IN our bodies and belonging is cultivated in community. The beginning of our belonging begins in the womb of God’s imagination and in the womb of our mothers who carried us. In Psalm 139 we see that Creator God who gave us […]
September 8, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Gen 16:7-16 Mother Hagar is the first human and first foreign woman to name God, the God who sees. This is in response to God naming her son, Ishmael, which means, God hears. She finds herself in a difficult predicament after being taken advantage of. Yet, God […]
August 25, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde
August 18, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 5:9 Pastora Inés grounds reconciliation in the work of Jesus on the cross in Ephesians 2:11-22. She centers peacemaking within the context of the upside kingdom of the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5:9.
August 4, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Matthew 6:33 NRSV God is the author, architect, and arbiter of justice. From the Old Testament to the New, we see that God always has protested injustice and has preferential treatment for the marginalized. In the life and ethical work of Jesus, we are invited to live […]
July 7, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde The Holy Spirit is life, light and speaks a language. Pastora Inés gives an overview of how we see the power and presence of the Spirit as the 3rd person of the Trinity who was here from the beginning giving life-giving breath to all. We see the Spirit […]
May 12, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Joel 2:23-29 Before the wind of Pentecost, we find the waiting of the prophetic fulfillment of Joel 2:23-29. The promises are for the restoration of all things, beginning with the soil, the animals, and humankind. God sees our devastation and promises to restore the years that the […]
April 7, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Luke 24:36-43 After the revelation at the table at the end of the road to Emmaus, Jesus again appears to his disciples and introduces himself saying, “Peace be with you”. Through a wordcloud exercise, Pastora Inés invites our congregations to a communal reflection of Scripture asking what […]
March 31, 2024 | Inés Velásquez-McBryde | Luke 24:28-35 After the resurrection, Jesus goes searching for his friends and listens to their dashed hopes on the road to Emmaus. The disciples don’t recognize him until he takes the bread, gives thanks, and shares it. Resurrection is a road and a ritual where Jesus’ presence […]