Our sermons are only a part of our Sunday morning, but they are an important part – they are the Word of God presented to us in our context so that we can repent, seek to amend our lives, and receive God’s grace through the power of the Gospel.
God’s love for us never ceases, but there are times at which we might question the compassion of God when we see the suffering of people around us. Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentation as he was watching his people being carried off into exile, but he was still able to have hope in God’s…
Job asks God for an answer, and when God gives Job the answer, we may wonder if Job regretted ever asking the question. At times it may feel to us that God has not really answered our questions in the way which we would like them to be answered. We want small answers, but God…
As we enter into the Sundays after Pentecost, our attention within the series shifts to the Epistle lesson, specifically when St. Paul talks about the “Spirit of Faith” who gives us faith. This is especially contrasted with the Gospel reading and its threats against the “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit”. Since we have the same…
We continue our conversation about the Holy Spirit, especially in the Spirit’s relationship to the Father and the Son, and how that relationship helps us to understand our relationship with the Trinity ourselves. We are born into the kingdom of God by the work of the Holy Spirit, especially through the new birth offered us…
Pentecost Sunday is the primary feast day of the Holy Spirit. On this Sunday we see the guidance that the Holy Spirit provides, orchestrating and helping sinful human beings in their actions and decisions. Primarily, we focus on how Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit will “Guide you into all truth” (John 16). As we…
About Easter 7/Matthias – Matthias is our last disciple in “Cameo”, and we know the least about him. Nevertheless, his story is not without meaning for us. Matthias is the ultimate cameo as his story gives the ultimate in witness of Jesus Christ, that the Church is not built upon the foundation of the disciples…
About Easter 6/John – John is the disciple who is known as “the beloved” and possibly the last living disciple out of the Twelve. As we consider John from his first letter, we consider what it is to “overcome the world” as one of Jesus’ disciples. Overcoming the World Everyone who believes that Jesus is…
About Easter 2/Thomas – Thomas is a conflicted disciple. We first hear him ready to give his life for Jesus in the story of Lazarus, but when we catch up with him in John 20, he is unwilling to even muster the faith and belief to accept Jesus’ Resurrection. As we look to Thomas’ story,…
About Easter: Our celebration of Easter begins with the Psalmists’ words “Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous!” and continues with the themes of steadfast love from Good Friday, proclaiming that we shall not die but we shall live! As we recount the story of Jesus’ passion anew in Psalm 118,…
About Palm Sunday: Palm Sunday is now concurrent with the celebration of the Sunday of the Passion (these used to be two separate liturgical celebrations). As such, the story is not only of Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem, but is also concerned with the entire Passion (Suffering) of Jesus. We open the series in the…