Participation in worship services will be via Facebook LIVE, not not by gathering until further notice,.

That last week, Jesus doesn’t “lay low.” He puts himself out there, susceptible to those who want to trap him, twist his words, get him to say something damning. He cannot turn from his vocation—he is not only a master teacher, but prophet and voice of the Divine. It is his ability to draw the people to his teachings that pose a threat, a challenge, to the authorities. We place ourselves in the crowd this week, to be moved and motivated by Jesus for our lives—to get a faithful perspective. What would we have seen, heard and felt? What do we do now?

“But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, ‘Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.’ And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, ‘Whose head is this, and whose title?’ They answered, ‘The emperor’s.’ Then he said to them, ‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’” — Matthew 22:18-21 (with references to Matthew 22:15-22, Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-26)