Prepare Ye

This is my sermon text for Sunday, January 31. The lesson was Mark 6:1-13, In today’s lesson, Jesus and his apostles give an example of what it means to be on a mission, to live focused on sharing the Good  News and God’s love. And it doesn’t seem to go that well. Jesus returns to his hometown, and impresses his former neighbors with his teaching. Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! But being impressed soon changes. The people who saw him grow up, who are neighbors to his brothers and sisters took offense at him.  I’m sure they thought, who does he think he is? Actually, he is the Son of God, but let’s put that aside for right now. Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at

This is my article from the January 2016 newsletter for Nazareth. My Big Guy forgot to post it. I'll forgive him. - a Hi everybody at Nazareth! You haven’t had the chance to meet me yet, but I understand you’ve heard about me. I am Pastor Brian’s roommate and protector, Ananias the Bulldogge. I am named after the apostle who takes care of Saul after he meets Jesus, just a few verses after the one he refers to in his article. And I’m a bulldogge, not a regular old bulldog. My breed doesn’t have the smushed up face, so I don’t snore or drool as much as they do. My hobbies are chewing, sleeping and interpreting Scripture. I like to think I’m pretty well rounded for being a year and a half old. My Big Guy (that’s what I call him) really likes the story he wrote about, and he prays that question on a regular basis. He told me that he really focuses on that question, and then he tries to be really quiet and still to wait for an answer. I had to learn that sometimes when he is

  This is my newsletter article for Nazareth's January newsletter. I forgot to post it and Ananias' article for the same newsletter. Sorry, still getting used to this whole 3 church thing. - Pbc Saul, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” – Acts 9:6 NKJV This verse has changed my life. On one of the windows at the chapel at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, there is a picture of Saul, who has been blinded by the Risen Christ, reciting those words. Actually, it is the original King James Version, “Lord, what wouldst thou have me do?” Whenever I was trying to figure out why God wanted me to become a pastor, I would go into the chapel, and in prayer, stare at that window, and ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” I realized that in asking that question, and being willing to embrace the answ

This is my sermon text for January 24th. It is based on the Narrative Lectionary text for the day, Mark 5:21-43. My thanks go out to Bishop Craig Satterlee of the North West Lower Michigan Synod for the inspiration from his video , and prayers for his recovery. Just as I was getting ready to work on this message on Friday, I scanned Facebook, and saw a post from a friend who I went to seminary with in Gettysburg. He is serving a church not too far from my hometown, and the post was a video from his Bishop, called “Waiting for Ananias.” I looked down at my Ananias, sleeping at my feet, and thought, what did you do now? Bishop Satterlee’s message was about how he is dealing with his vision problems. He is legally blind but has enough sight in one eye to be able to read, use the computer and many other things. Or he did until recently; his vision in that eye has become compromised. His video to his synod explains what is going on, and says that he is waiting on Ananias, the

These are my sermons for January 17th. The text for this day is Mark 4:1-34. The center piece of these four parables is the Parable of the Sower. It is by far, my favorite parable, and I chose not to preach on it, other than in my Small Talk (Children's Message.) Instead, I preached a different sermon at each of the three churches. The reason for my madness is explained at the beginning of each message. These are my written manuscripts. What I actually said is probably close to this, I think, because I'm scheduling this post on Saturday night, after the Packers game. SMALL TALK ( the same at all three churches ) In the lesson I’m going to read, Jesus tells some stories to describe what God’s Kingdom is like. One of the stories is about someone who sows seeds. That doesn’t mean they go out with a needle and thread, but that they scatter seeds. When they scatter them, some fall on the path or roads and can’t get into the soil, so birds come along and eat them. Some

This is my newsletter article for Nazareth's January newsletter. I forgot to post it and Ananias' article for the same newsletter. Sorry, still getting used to this whole 3 church thing. - Pbc Saul, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” – Acts 9:6 NKJV This verse has changed my life. On one of the windows at the chapel at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, there is a picture of Saul, who has been blinded by the Risen Christ, reciting those words. Actually, it is the original King James Version, “Lord, what wouldst thou have me do?” Whenever I was trying to figure out why God wanted me to become a pastor, I would go into the chapel, and in prayer, stare at that window, and ask, “Lord, what do you want me to do?” I realized that in asking that question, and being willing to embrace the answer was a big scary step. But I felt free