The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. 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…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon What’s in Your Wallet? Not Enough. Say the word stewardship in some congregations and people are protectively guarding their wallets faster than you can say “pledge card!” Unfortunately, too often we associate stewardship exclusively with issues of money. The…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Jesus, Cornerstone of Our Faith God has showered humanity with gifts and blessings, but humanity continues to abuse those gifts. We have been entrusted with a creation to care for, and in our shortsightedness we abuse and pollute the…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. An Invitation to Grace It is so easy and so tempting to build ourselves up at the expense of others. “I can’t imagine ever doing that.” “How can people live like that?” “Who would do such a thing?” At…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. Discomfort: Sign of Grace? Poor Jonah. The guy never could get comfortable. He was uncomfortable with his God-given call to preach to Nineveh; he was uncomfortable in the arms of the sailors as they hoisted him over the boat’s…
New Perspective 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 not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities” (Ps. 103:10).…
Called to Community Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them” (Matt. 18:20). In these Sundays after Pentecost, we are repeatedly reminded that God has not abandoned us and that Christ’s resurrection and ascension are a beginning for us, not an end. The readings this week focus…
The sermon will be a post on our Facebook page. Please click on link to view sermon. There Must Be Another Way 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 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 of Christian formation: conformation and transformation (Rom. 12:2). Disciples are formed over time—shaped by learning, worship, and…
We Are Beggars, This Is True “We are beggars; this is true,” are reported to be Martin Luther’s last written words. Christians are “beggars” for God’s grace, undeserving but graced nonetheless. A beggar’s faith focuses not on what is given or accomplished or believed, but on what is received: the healing and sustenance desperately longed for…