Forked Lake in the Central Adirondacks © adktaste.com Matthew 15:21-28 As I mentioned previously, I am the Senior Minister of Central Presbyterian Church in New York City, and we have a very young congregation. In fact, 55% of our attendees are 34 or younger. Many of the people who come through our doors have very little exposure to Christianity. Maybe they are brand new to the faith, or it has been many years since they darkened the door of a church. But they’re curious. The

A high peak Adirondack trail sign, pointing the way to different destinations Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 Matthew 14:22-33 What are you seeking? This is Jesus’s first question to his disciples in the Gospel of John. It is a simple question, but we don’t stop very often to ask it. We spend an enormous amount of our lives seeking things: success, security, recognition, wealth, beauty, belonging. Some of those things are good. Some are not. But perhaps the deeper question is not simpl

Tommy's Rock on Upper Saranac Lake ©usfoundation.net Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33,44-52 As our daughters learn to swim, putting their faces in the water can be daunting. It can take a few moments to work up the courage to break the surface. Over time, though, we become comfortable with what we once feared. Nothing about the water changes, but our assurance that we can move into the unknown becomes firm. For the past four weeks, Paul has been teaching us about assurance: as

A picture of waiting: an empty Adirondack chair © adirondackstreet.com Romans 8:12-25 Matthew 13:24-30,36-43 One thing about living with small children is that it takes a while to do just about anything. Going to the grocery store? Sure thing. Let’s just put on our shoes and get into the car. No, no, no…not the leopard shoes, the ballerina shoes. "No, Dada," not those ballerina shoes, the black ballerina shoes. Oh wait, we forgot our headband. And now we must go potty. Okay,

An imaginary image of an open tomb in the Adirondacks - image generated by ChatGPT Romans 8:1-11 Matthew 13:1-9,18-23 My colleagues and I in the Religion Department at my high school have been focused on attention for the past three years. We have wrestled with the ways our smart devices compete for and capture our attention, interrupting us with vibrations and noises and offering a constant stream of intermittent rewards. We have wrestled with the ways our political and medi

A panorama view from Mount Jo in the Adirondacks. Photo © Dan Mish (Facebook, October 3, 2025) Romans 7:15-25 Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30 We are in the midst of a cultural rupture. It can feel, at times, as though there is a battle raging around us, as if we have become prisoners of war within a conflict that is beyond our ability to control or direct. Society appears close to breaking point as it struggles to hold together the enormous tension between imagining itself called to

Sundown in the Adirondacks : An encounter with beauty -- image © adventuresingoodcompany.com Romans 6:12-23 Matthew 10:40-42 “Mr. Montgomery,” my students often ask me, “is this going to be on the test?” The question betrays the reality that my students are often less interested in learning the material than they are in performing to meet a standard. My desire – as a teacher – is for my students to be captured by the material, engaged in the beauty and complexity of it all, s

Genesis 15:1-6 Luke 12:32-40 Ruins of a large blast furnace once operated by the Adirondack Iron Works in Tahawus In my first years of...

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23 Luke 12:13-21 Sunrise over the high lakes in the Adirondacks I’m going to start with two brief snapshots...

Split Rock Falls in the Adirondacks Genesis 18:1-10a Luke 10:38-42 The bible challenges us as readers. It takes time to put the pieces...

Colossians 1:1-18 Luke 10:25-37 Night blooming Jasmine flowers that fill the morning air with a delightful scent One of my favorite short...

Galatians 6:7-16 Luke 10:1-11 At the heart of our lessons this morning is the message of God’s peace. “ Peace to this house,” was the...

Galatians 5:1, 13-16 Luke 9:51-62 Sunrise at Lake Colden in the Adirondack High Peaks. Photo: Getty Images “For freedom...

John 6:24-35 Campfire Cooking ©adirondackexperience.com One of our first big purchases as a young family was a dining room table. The...

John 6:1-21 The feeding of 5,000 people with five barley loaves and two fish is one of the more well-known stories about Jesus. Aside...

2 Samuel 7:1-14 Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 I’d like to begin by sharing “A Tale of Two Adirondack Mornings”: Two weeks ago, I woke up as the...

Amos 7:7-15 Mark 6:14-29 Our two lessons today both feature kings behaving badly. In the Old Testament lesson, we hear Amos being exiled...

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). This is one of the most...

Mark 5:21-43 Our gospel lesson this morning is structured like a sandwich. It begins and ends with the story of Jairus’s daughter, and...

Exodus1:8-2:10 Matthew 16:13-20 I saw it yesterday on Spring Pond. I’m betting most of you have seen it: when the wind is calm, the...