Luke 1:26-38 – December 24, 2023, Christmas Eve Sermon Last year, right around this time, I heard the most amazing story. It was posted to Facebook by a friend’s wife, Christie. This happened to her about 14 years ago, and she gave me permission to share it. Christie is a psychotherapist and this is her […]
Third Sunday of Advent, December 17, 2023 We’ve been given several readings today that, at first glance, don’t necessarily seem to have much to do with each other. And yet I find key phrases or ideas in them that seem to rise to the surface with a little bit of extra sparkle or energy and
The First Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2023 Today is the first Sunday of Advent. Not every Christian denomination celebrates Advent, but the Lutheran Church understands both Advent before Christmas and Lent and the Passion Week before Easter as necessary steps that we shouldn’t skip over. One of my favorite memories from past Christmas seasons
Matthew 25: 31-46 (November 26, 2023) In 1975, a Marine on leave in Aiken, SC named Dannion Brinkley was on the phone with his best friend while a storm raged outside. As they spoke, a bolt of lightning struck the telephone pole, sending 180,000 volts of electricity burning through the phone line and the handset
Matthew 25: 14-30 (November 19, 2023) If there was one thing that stuck with me from my class in biblical Greek at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, it was the insight that biblical translation is an art and not a science. And even though I remember almost no Greek, I will never forget
Matthew 5: 1-12 (November 5, 2023, All Saints Sunday) Matthew’s Focus We shouldn’t think of the Gospels as being like the transcript of a news reporter who was present at all of the events and recorded them just as they happened. Each Gospel was written for a particular community of followers of Jesus. They are
John 8: 31-36 (October 29, 2023) Then Jesus turned to the Jews who had claimed to believe in him. “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” Surprised, they said, “But we’re
Matthew 22: 15-22 (October 22, 2023) I watch a lot of animal rescue videos, especially from an organization called Hope for Paws. They’re always getting calls from people who report animals who’ve been stranded or abandoned. Often, the dog they’re rescuing feels cornered and may either be shaking with fright or snarling with aggression. What
Matthew 22: 1-14 (October 15, 2023) I mentioned last week that we were beginning a series of texts where Jesus is in confrontation with the religious authorities. Parables, we remember, were used by Jesus to “reveal what had been hidden since the foundations of the world.” Again, in today’s Gospel reading, we see Jesus directing
Matthew 21:33-46 (Sunday, October 8, 2023) I’ve rented more than one home in my life. For a period of time when I lived in Marietta, GA, I owned a condominium. But ever since I left Marietta for the northeast Georgia mountains, I’ve been living under someone else’s lease. The farmhouse that I rented in Demorest,
