A Different Kind of Bloodline The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Combining into one liturgy the “Hosanna!” of the triumphal palm procession and the “Crucify him!” of the passion drama—especially as filtered through Paul’s image of the “exalted” slave—invites a meditation on the mystery of…
The Attraction of the Repellant Cross The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Two themes vie for attention in the readings: divine forgiveness (with attention paid to the human sinfulness that makes it necessary!) and the cross’s mysterious power. Jeremiah prophesies of God’s desire and ability…
The Cosmic Love of God The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. The prologue of John’s gospel begins with the story of creation, connecting the Word that became flesh in Jesus with the bringing forth of life and all things. Then, as the gospel continues, the…
Clearing a Path to Worship The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. In the gospel for today, Jesus discovers that the temple has been turned from a place of worship into a marketplace. The predominance of the selling of animals and the exchanging of money for…
“Follow Me” The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. We live in a culture of invitation. Television invites us to join complicated story arcs so that we feel connected to the characters. Commercials invite us to see their product as a new movement and invite us…
Second Sunday of Christmas The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Reflecting the Grace of God In sharp contrast to the image of Jacob, who wrestles with an angel and prevails, in today’s first reading the Lord redeems Jacob from hands too strong for him. Jacob…
Reformation Sunday Know God, Know Ourselves This is a Sunday packed with beautiful images, deep-seeded ideas, and a rich history. For life-long Lutherans, these things can provoke a sense of pride in our denomination, but Reformation Sunday is not “Lutheran Pride Day.” Instead it is a day focused on knowing God truthfully and in the…
God Gives More than Enough The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. It is the “first day of the week” (John 20:19), the day of the new creation, but to those locked away in the upper room in fear, the world is as it always has…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Overhearing Jesus At the ascension we, like the disciples in today’s reading in Acts, are left looking at the sky. But in the High Priestly Prayer (John 17), Jesus brings us back to earth. In the prayer he speaks…
Not Orphaned The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. “I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus promises us in today’s gospel. God is not some ruthless heavenly spectator judging us as on reality television, relishing our failures, wishing to exchange us for a better or…