Prepare Ye

This is my sermon text for October 7, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 10:2-16, and the lesson from Genesis, 2:18-24 . + pBRC May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. I absolutely believe that the lessons and stories that come from the Bible should not be painful or be used to hurt people. They may cause pangs of guilt because of what we may have done or left undone. But if they cause pain, I think we need to go back and really examine the texts because I do not believe that God the creator; Jesus Christ, our Savior; or our advocate, the Holy Spirit intended them to hurt us. I do believe our predecessors in the history of the Church may have twisted God’s word, whether accidentally or deliberately, to cause pain to people who hear it. To really examine a text means to look at every word and every choice used to translate it. It is detailed work, but r...

This is my sermon text for September 30, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 9:38-5- . + pBRC May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. Before I begin, there are two facts recorded in the Gospels that I wish to highlight. First, only one disciple went to be at the foot of the cross. Several of the women who followed Christ went to be with him to the last. Second, when those women went to the tomb on the third day to find it empty, the Risen Christ himself told them to tell his disciples that he was alive. When they did, the men did not believe them, and said they told an idle tale. Today’s Gospel lesson picks up where we left off last week. Jesus tells his disciples for a second time he will be arrested, killed and be raised on the third day. They didn’t understand. They didn’t ask any questions. They instead argued over which of them was the best. Jesus confronts them w...

This is my sermon text for September 23, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 9:30-37 . + pBRC May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. What do you do when you don’t know what to do? We have all had those times in our lives when, either from a series of cumulative crises crashing into our lives, or from an enormous event eradicating our environment, we have a sense of being overwhelmed. We know we need to do something, but cannot figure out what to do or where to start. We are lost, and while we don’t know which way to go, we know we have to move. For the second time in what we believe to be a few days, those who had given up and walked away from the families, from their homes and from their lives to follow Jesus are told by him that his life, his mission and his ministry are going to soon come to an abrupt and violent end. If you have been blindsided b...

This is my sermon text for September 16, 2018. The text for my message was from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 8:27-38. + pBRC May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. Today’s Gospel lesson is said to be the turning point in Mark’s story of Jesus Christ. Between last week’s lesson and today’s, Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people. Then he was challenged to present a sign to the people of who he was. Between this lesson and next Sunday’s, Jesus will take some of his disciples with him to the top of a mountain, where he will be transfigured. In the midst of these miracles and signs of power, Jesus asks his disciples who the people they encounter believe Jesus to be. Then, he turned the question to them. "But who do you say that I am?" (Mark 8.29a)   ‘ Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." ’ (Mark 8.29b) Then Jesus unpacks what being the Messiah entails. “ The Son o...

This is my sermon text for September 9, 2018. The texts for my message were from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 7:24-37, and from James 2:1-17.  + pBRC Lord God, help us to know your ways; 
 teach us your paths.
Lead us in your truth, and teach us, 
 for you are the God of our salvation; 
 for you we wait all day long. Through Christ, our Lord. AMEN . 
 May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. We are uncomfortable with today’s Gospel lesson for two reasons, one we admit and one we don’t want to admit. We struggle with Jesus looking down and talking down to the woman, even though we are guilty of doing that to those who we consider to be the other, or lessor, in our lives. But we don’t want to admit that we are unworthy dogs hoping for the crumbs of grace and love that may fall off of God’s table. Jesus doesn’t just say no to the Syrophoenician woman who begs him to heal her daugh...

This is my sermon text for the Covenant Joint Service for September 2, 2018 at Ascension Lutheran. The texts for my message were from the Gospel of St. Mark, Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23, and from James 1:17-27.   + pBRC Lord God, help us to know your ways; 
 teach us your paths.
Lead us in your truth, and teach us, 
 for you are the God of our salvation; 
 for you we wait all day long. Through Christ, our Lord. AMEN . 
 May God’s Grace through the Good News of Jesus Christ be at the center of your lives forever .   AMEN. It is good to have all of you together in one place. It is good to have the three congregations of our covenant together. Each of us individually has much work to do on our journey as disciples of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but it is better and easier to do it when we work together. Similarly, each of our churches has much work to do as it is and represents the Body of Christ in the area of the Reign of God, and it ...