All Past Reflections

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost"Humbled and Exalted" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Psalm 84:1-7, NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Luke 18:9-14, NRSVUE) Way back in medieval times, when I was in high school, the State of New Jersey required students to take nine weeks of...

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost"Gratitude" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (2 Timothy 2:8-15/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 17:11-19/NRSVUE) I’ll admit it: I enjoy a caffeinated beverage every now and again (as the thirty-two ounce iced coffee sitting on my desk...

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost"A Little Faith" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (2 Timothy 1:1-14/NRSVUE) Gospel Reading (Luke 17:1-10/NRSVUE) The finance business in which I worked for twenty-five years before becoming a pastor wasn’t big on niceties — in fact,...

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost"Prisoners of Our Own Device" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (1 Timothy 6:6-19/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 16:19-31/NRSVUE) The decision to move here resulted in a lot of changes for my family and me — some of them large, and some...

Fiftheenth Sunday after Pentecost"God & Wealth" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Amos 8:4-7/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 16:1-13/NRSVUE) Back in the fall of 2003, I, like the rest of New England, was still trying to process the fact that the Boston Red Sox had...

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost"Lost & Found" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Exodus 32:7-14/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 15:1-10/NRSVUE) It was a little after eleven on the Saturday night of Memorial Day weekend when my friend David and I rolled up to the...

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost"Choices" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Deuteronomy 30:15-20/CEB)Gospel Reading (Luke 14:25-33/CEB) Last weekend, as I’m sure you all know, was the widely-acknowledged end of the summer season. Even though Fall technically...

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost"Places of Honor" — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 14:1, 7-14/NRSVUE) As holidays go, Thanksgiving is my favorite. I mean, what’s not to like about it: Food, family, friends, football...

Eleventh Sunday after PentecostSabbath — Rev. Brent Gundlah First Reading (Isaiah 58:9b-14/NRSVUE)Gospel Reading (Luke 13:10-17/NRSVUE) I don’t know what you’re doing this afternoon after church but I’m pretty sure I know what I’m doing if it’s not raining: yard work....

Tenth Sunday after PentecostRev. Brent Gundlah First Reading: Isaiah 5:1-7/NRSVUE Gospel: Luke 12:49-56/NRSVUE It might be hard to appreciate living in a place that’s as dry as Utah is, but when we lived in the Boston suburbs our house had a serious flaw...