The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Reformation Sunday Not Ashamed In many congregations, Reformation Sunday is treated as a sort of “Lutheran heritage” day, a time for singing chorales and remembering the theological reforms of the sixteenth century that gave birth to Lutheranism. In other…
The Holy Trinity Our Amazing Life through Fearsome Death Holy. Glory. These words in the first reading and psalm testify to awe at God’s transcendent sovereignty, fearsome majesty, and infinite mystery. No mortal can see God’s face or hear God’s voice and live. The fear expressed in these readings is personal—a living mortal in awe of…
The Holy Spirit’s Groaning The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Few sounds capture a groan like birth pangs. It is the raw sound of life and birth as well as of pain. It is the guttural desire for the end of the waiting for what…
Promises, Promises The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. The story of God’s relationship with God’s people is a story of promises fulfilled. We hear about God’s covenant with Sarah and Abraham in today’s Genesis reading and about its fulfillment in the New Testament texts. As…
Fourth Sunday of Advent 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…
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…
New Perspective The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Being a disciple requires an expansive perspective on forgiveness. Today our perspective is broadened by the good news that God’s forgiveness is not based on our idea of fairness, but rather on abundant, unimaginable grace. God “does…
Gospel Matthew 16: 21– 28 After Peter confesses that Jesus is “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:16), Jesus reveals the ultimate purpose of his ministry. These words prove hard to accept, even for a disciple whom Jesus has called a “rock.” 21From that time on, [after Peter confessed that Jesus was the…
There Must Be Another Way The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Peter may be the “rock” on which Christ will build the church (Matt. 16:18), but when Jesus reveals the suffering that will come first, Peter becomes a tempter and “stumbling block.” Assuming God must have…
Confessing Christ, Formed in Faith The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. In late August, students are preparing to go back to school, and many churches gear up for a new year of Christian education. It is a good time to be reminded of the heart…