The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. No More Business as Usual Lutherans looking for gospel may hear John the Baptizer’s preaching as primarily law. It can be difficult to reconcile his fire-and-brimstone style with the joy that traditionally belongs to the third Sunday of Advent.…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Your Kingdom Come on Earth Luke sets the preaching of John the Baptist clearly in the midst of the political and religious environment of his day. We are told the names of the emperor, governor, and other political rulers…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Don’t Wait for the Kingdom—See It As Advent begins, we look forward to the celebration of Jesus’ first coming to the world in the light of a text that promises his final coming. We, like the gospel writer, Luke,…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Faith-Sustaining Patterns in a World of Stockpiles Faith cannot be stockpiled. It needs a pattern of replenishment. Today, the disciples are hungry. While their stomachs may not be rumbling, their hunger is shown in their lack of certainty about…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Middle of the Story Literarily and theologically, Mark’s gospel ends awkwardly at 16:8. The women are astonished and afraid, and what most scholars consider the original ending of Mark seems more like the middle of the story than its…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Go in Peace With Simeon and Anna we receive consolation (Luke 2:25) and good news: Jesus frees us to go in peace. God’s Word is incarnate, and we have seen the light of our salvation (2:29-32). “Go in peace” is…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Those Who Hear and Do Who is God’s family? Where is God’s home? In the church we often speak of our home parish as a family. Many of us grew up thinking of the church building as God’s house.…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Give Witness and Rejoice The third Sunday of Advent—also known as Gaudete (rejoice)—is one in which the church has rejoiced as the advent of the Messiah draws nearer. Whether or not you mark this Sunday with a pink candle on the…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Change of Heart The people who hear Peter’s testimony and preaching are cut to the heart. The writer of 1 Peter instructs believers to love deeply from the heart. The disciples who encounter the risen Christ notice afterward that their…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Glory Enough for Everyone To maintain the machinery of empire, people must be counted; not to be valued as individuals, but to assess tribute. It is the census. Lists of family members, and decisions about them, must be made.…