- June 16, 2013 – Bread Enough For Everyone June 16, 2013June 16, 2013
Luke 9:10-17; II Corinthians 9:6-15; I Kings 17:8-16
These last 2 lines of our gospel reading for today tell the whole story. “And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up—12 baskets of broken pieces.” According to the organization, Bread for the World, there is enough food produced in this ...
- June 9, 2013 – God’s Compassion June 9, 2013June 9, 2013
Luke 7:11-17; I Kings 17:17-24
At one point in the movie, “Pretty Woman,” Julia Roberts mutters to herself after a dismissive remark by Richard Gere, “It’s not the way that you always imagine it to be.” She is referring to the fairy tale idea about being swept off her feet by Prince Charming only ...
- June 2, 2013 – The Faith of an Outsider June 3, 2013The Faith of an Outsider
by Paul Eldred
Luke 7:1-10
Grace and peace to you from God our Creator and the Lord Jesus Christ, who comforts us when we cry, heals us when we hurt, and exposes us to faith in new and exciting ways. May all glory and honor be to them, now and forever. Amen.
Today’s Gospel ...
- May 26, 2013 – What’s Comfortable? May 29, 2013WHAT’S COMFORTABLE?
May 26, 2013
One of the first rubrics that we were taught in seminary in Homiletics or Preaching 101 was to avoid working through our personal stuff in a sermon. Given all that has transpired in the past 3 months, I feel like I have a lot to work through with you, because my personal ...
- May 19, 2013 – This is Pentecost May 19, 2013Sermon by David Chilton
John 14:8-27
Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our Savior Jesus Christ.
Pray with me for a moment please.
May the Words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, oh my rock and my redeemer. Amen
Today we invite the spirit to come into our ...
- May 12, 2013 – That They All May Be One May 12, 2013May 12, 2013
John 17:20-26
By my count, there are at least 6 “so thats” in this brief portion of Jesus’ final prayer on behalf of his disciples and the world. This frequent use of this connecting phrase, “so that”, demonstrates how purposeful Jesus’ prayer is. Jesus wants results, and results that are transformative and meaningful. There ...
- May 5, 2013 – The Spirit of Peace May 5, 2013May 5, 2013
John 14:23-29
Jesus can see the writing on the wall. He already has warned his disciples that he eventually would be put to death. He already has sent Judas on his way and has told him to do quickly what he was must do. Jesus has warned Peter that Peter was going to betray ...
- April 28, 2013 – Them and Us April 28, 2013April 28, 2013
Acts 11:1-18; John 13:31-35
Today, we hear how Peter told the circumcised believers at Jerusalem, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not make a distinction between them and us.” As you listen to this statement by Peter, who comes to your mind when you hear his reference to “them?” Who are ...
- April 21, 2013 – Thanks for the Creator April 21, 2013On this Earth Sunday, if we are going to recognize and proclaim how majestic the name of God is in all the Earth, then all of our decisions and actions ought to be consistent with our praise. Therefore, today, as we give praise to God for how magnificent this creation is, let us also ...
- April 14, 2013 – Truth Hidden Simply April 14, 2013
John 21:1-19
Sermon by Dustin Hamren
As I read this week’s Gospel in order to write this sermon, I found myself trying to look deep within the text to pull out some hidden gem of wisdom. Any time you open the Bible you hope to be inspired, encouraged, enlightened, or emboldened through the text and message. These ...
- April 7, 2013 – Obedience To God April 7, 2013April 7, 2013
Acts 5:27-32; John 20:19-31
How do we explain the 2 very different images of Jesus’ disciples that are presented in our lessons for today? In the Gospel of John, the disciples are terrified for their lives because they think that the religious leaders are going to come after them in order to arrest them ...
- March 31, 2013 – Easter Sunday – The Resurrection: An Idle Tale? March 31, 2013Throughout Scripture, resurrection is all about a new creation, new life, new ways of being in relationship with one another, new opportunities, and fresh starts—all of which are grounded in the gift of God’s forgiveness for what has been wrong in the past and God’s revelation of what is possible in the future by living ...
- March 24, 2013 – Palm Sunday – Don’t Stop Talking About Jesus March 24, 2013We are the stones who have the opportunity to shout out this week about all that Jesus accomplished in his brief ministry as a faithful and obedient servant to a God in whom he put his complete trust. We are the disciples of Jesus who are called and chosen this week to tell others ...
- March 17, 2013 – Always The Poor March 17, 2013March 17, 2013
John 12:1-8; Philippians 3:4b-14
Do you know the difference between a prescriptive statement and a descriptive statement? A prescriptive statement tells us the way things are supposed to be for all time, whereas a descriptive statement informs us about the way things are. For example, is the statement, “In most cultures, women are dominated ...
- March 10, 2013 – Often Prodigal, Always Forgiven March 10, 2013We are loved by God and nothing we can do can stop that, even though we continue to sin. We usually want to do God’s will, but so often fall short. And yet, every time we come back to God, God always runs toward us; welcoming us back and tells us that we ...
- March 3, 2013 – The Faithfulness of God March 3, 2013March 3, 2013
I Corinthians 10:1-13
Nine times out of ten, whenever anyone makes a reference to our second lesson for today and reminds us that God will not allow us to be tested beyond our strength, the test that most often comes to mind has something to do with some kind of affliction or hardship—like a ...
- February 24, 2013 – The Tears of Lament February 24, 2013February 24, 2013
Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35
What is happening in this world that moves you to tears of anguish and lament? What do you see going on around you in this world that tears your heart apart? What do you hear about what is happening in this world that ties your stomach up in knots or ...
- February 17, 2013 – Faith and Salvation February 17, 2013February 17, 2013
Luke 4:1-13; Romans 10:8b-13
Faith—otherwise known as trust in God—is a big deal! Jesus discovered this reality shortly after he was baptized when he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he chose to fast in preparation for his ministry in Galilee, including his hometown of Nazareth. I guess somebody could ask, ...
- Ash Wednesday, 2013 – Remember That You Are Dust February 13, 2013
Ash Wednesday, February 13, 2013
“Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return” were the words that were spoken tonight as your forehead was marked with a sign of the cross with ashes supposedly from the palm branches that were used last year by people who replayed the scene of Jesus entering Jerusalem ...
- February 10, 2013 – Mountain Top Freedom February 10, 2013February 10, 2013
Exodus 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2; Luke 9:28-36
Martin Luther King, Jr. said it about as clearly as anyone could describe it when he declared, “I’ve been to the mountain top and I’ve seen the promised land.” What Dr. King saw from the mountain top was nothing short of amazing. Whether it be the prodigious ...
- January 27, 2013 – Jesus’ Ingaugral Address January 27, 2013
Luke 4:14-21
Last Monday, I went down to Tacoma to visit my Dad who is still in the nursing care facility at the Tacoma Lutheran Home. When I walked into his room, both he and his roommate, Bob, were watching FOX News on their separate TVs. While I was having my initial conversation with my Dad, ...
- January 20, 2013 – Gifts For The Common Good January 20, 2013For example, here is a book containing many of the letters, articles, and speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. From my perspective, every time that he sat down to write or stood up to make speech, Dr. King was engaged in a spiritual exercise just as he was engaged in a spiritual exercise every ...
- January 13, 2013 – The Affirmation of Baptism January 13, 2013Baptism is the time and the means in our lives when this Holy Spirit which has been breathed into us at birth is watered and nourished such that we are given the power, the energy, and a fire to be witnesses to the good news of God’s love and justice and to Jesus’ way of ...
- January 6, 2013 – Star Trek January 6, 2013It’s not what we have that defines us, that is part of the attitude that leads to putting other people and things before God. It’s not what we have, but how we live our lives and use our gifts that shows God and others where our hearts are
- December 30, 2012 – A Baptismal Covenant December 30, 2012We all are in constant need of God’s forgiveness, and if we acknowledge this predicament, then hopefully we can find it more tolerable to forgive someone else when we have a complaint against the other person. I always like to point out the nuance in this instruction because it states that if we have a ...
- Christmas Eve, 2012 – Christmas Hope December 24, 2012Christmas Eve, 2012
How do you preach Christmas? I guess that all depends upon what you want to hear. What I want to hear is how we all have been loved by God as was made evident in Jesus of Nazareth who was born to Mary and Joseph in the little town of Bethlehem. I want ...
- December 16, 2012 – A Joyful Reformation December 16, 2012December 16, 2012
Luke 3:7-18; Zephaniah 3:14-20; Philippians 4:4-7
For those of you who are familiar with the 3-year lectionary cycle, you know that there are 3 different passages from the Bible that have been chosen to be read each Sunday over a 3-year period. The first year concentrates on the Gospel of Matthew. The second year ...
- November 25, 2012 – Christ the King November 26, 2012Christ the King Sunday is a hard day to be politically correct. With all of the references to king, kingship, and kingdom, there is no way in the world that we can avoid the language that conveys such a collage of words as sovereignty, dominion, authority, and power – all of which are frequently ...
