Sermons
“Grieving in the Times of Corona” Sermon on Sunday, March 29, 2020 Based on John 11
Some of the most difficult experiences people have had to deal with in these past weeks are funerals and planned weddings. To emphasize the point let me ask this simple question: how do you grieve without the comfort of human touch and the support of a caring...
read more“What are we seeing in all of this?” Sermon on Sunday, March 22, 2020 Based on John 9
This gospel passage tells us the story of a man who was blind from birth. John tends to share fewer healing stories compared to the other gospel writers; but those he does tell he describes in astonishing detail. He frequently calls his miracles “signs.” In other...
read more“The Familiar and the Unfamiliar” Sermon on Sunday, March 15, 2020 Based on John 4
The first thing that strikes me about this story recorded in John 4 is how John assumes his readers to have a certain familiarity with the landscape. He says Jesus came to this city called Sychar near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph....
read more“Nighttime Conversations” Sermon on Sunday, March 8, 2020 Based on John 3
There is something about nighttime conversations that sets them apart from the interactions and talks we tend to have during the day, which are often task oriented. “Can you pick up some coffee beans on your way home?” “Have you put that doctor’s appointment on your...
read more“Moonstruck” Sermon on Sunday, February 16, 2020 Based on Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
“I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” These words from Deuteronomy 30 come to us three millennia after they were written. Today, as we explore that most fundamental of...
read more“Cosmic Code” Sermon on Sunday, January 5, 2020 Based on John 1
Almost 40 years ago, in 1982, American physicist Heinz Pagels wrote one of his books about science written to inspire the general public, even though most people, including myself, find it pretty difficult to understand. The book was titled “Cosmic Code,” and it dealt...
read more“The Measure of Spirituality” Sermon on Sunday, February 2, 2020 Based on Matthew 5: 1-12
The Beatitudes are at once the opening liturgy of the Sermon on the Mount and by far its most beautiful part. Our Thursday morning study group has been reading and discussing that section of the Bible over the last three weeks. Listening to Rob, who leads the study,...
read more“Prisoner of Hope” Sermon, Sunday December 15, 2019 Matthew 11: 2-11
What a difference a single week can make! Things happen that change your outlook on life, your sense of comfort, your feeling of identity, who you are. Everything was moving along nicely and then all of a sudden, the ground under you shakes, emotions flare up, tears...
read more“Deadwood” Sermon on Sunday, December 8, 2019 Based on Matthew 3: 1-12
Watching some of the trees on our home property has been sad lately. Just last month I took down three plum trees that always produced beautiful red flowers in the spring. In fact, when those three trees started blooming it was the official beginning of spring for me....
read more“You, O candle of Hope…” Sermon on Sunday, December 1, 2019 Based on Isaiah 2
We don’t suffer fools easily in this congregation. The majority of us pair their faith with a healthy sense of realism. When someone tells us, “The world is coming to an end!” Lutherans won’t pack up and abandon their lives. When someone proclaims that poverty is...
read more“We aren’t that bad, are we?” Sermon on Sunday, October 27, 2019 Based on Luke 18: 9-15
Dear people of the church, We aren’t that bad, are we? I mean, as blatantly righteous as the Pharisee in this parable, as unashamedly condescending, comparing ourselves with those whom we deem not as good, not as successful, not as…, we are not really that bad, are...
read more“Faith and Humility” Sermon on Sunday, October 6, 2019 Based on Luke 17: 5-10
Today’s gospel consists of two paragraphs, and for most people who read them, those two parts seem to come from opposite universes. The first paragraph talks about the incredible power of faith, while the second urges humility. In the first paragraph the believer is...
read more