Sunday, June 15, 2025 – Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31, Psalm 8, Romans 5:1-5, John 16:12-15 When you think about God, what do you imagine God to be like? What is the image in your mind? Do you image God as a white-bearded man sitting on a throne in the sky? Or like the painting of God […]
Sunday, March 9, 2025 (Lent 1) – Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13 Since I began serving Redeemer as interim minister in October of 2023, my approach to preaching has been a week-by-week endeavor. It’s pretty much all I could do to just keep juggling all the plates that I had in
Sunday, November 17, 2024 – Mark 12:38-44, also 1 Kings 17:8-16, Psalm 34:1-8, Hebrews 9:24-28. In talking about vulnerability and living on the edge, I shared last week about a time when I was financially insecure and followed an intuition. That Spirit nudge led me to an action and a connection that brought me grace
Sunday, November 10, 2024 – Mark 12:38-44, also 1 Kings 17:8-16, Psalm 34:1-8, Hebrews 9:24-28. Two of our readings today feature people who were living on the edge, people in a very vulnerable position because of their relationship status. They were widows with no husband to support them, no real security. Many women past middle
Sunday, October 27, 2024 – Reformation Sunday The dialogue below has been adapted from “A Visit with Martin Luther,” written by Rev. Drue Warner of Good News Church in Suwanee, GA and “A Visit with Katie Luther,” written by Hilda Demuth-Lutze, author of Kingdom of the Birds. I delivered this by playing both parts. Today
Sunday, October 20 2024 – Mark 10:35-45, also Isaiah 53:4-12, Psalm 91:9-16, and Hebrews 5:1-10. The theme of our readings today is the suffering servant who gives up his own life for the sake of the whole. I have to admit, for good or for ill, I’ve never had to live my life in the
Sunday, October 13, 2024 – Mark 10: 17-31, also Amos 5:6-7, 10-15, Psalm 90:12-17, and Hebrews 4:12-16. I love a good mystery, especially the British shows like Grantchester and, more recently, Magpie Murders. I love glimpsing hidden clues that solve the puzzle. Today’s gospel about the rich man is a kind of mystery that can
I was recently asked what I thought being Lutheran was all about. Here’s my ever-evolving answer. Compassion for the Human Condition Lutherans understand humans as simultaneously saint and sinner, meaning that no one is perfect, no one can boast of being better than anyone else. Instead, we know that we are all complex, imperfect human
Sunday, August 25, 2024 – John 6:51-58, also Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20 In the early to mid-1800s, large groups of people left their Eastern and Midwestern homes to migrate west to California and Oregon looking for opportunity. They’d arrive in Independence, Missouri and form wagon trains of multiple families to travel together. Almost
Sunday, August 18, 2024 – Gospel John 6:51-58, also Proverbs 9:1-6, Psalm 34:9-14, Ephesians 5:15-20 Swami Vivekananda was an Indian Hindu monk and religious teacher, born in 1863 who introduced Hinduism and yoga to the West. He traveled to the United States in 1893 and spoke at a huge event in Chicago called the Parliament of
