Thursday, April 17, 2025, Maundy Thursday – Gospel: John 13:1-17, 31b-35, 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 20-27 In 2023, I had the incredible privilege of co-leading a spiritual pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona off the coast of Scotland. It was quite a journey getting there. We of course flew overnight to Glasgow and then after a restful […]
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, February 23, 2025 – Genesis 45:3-11, 15, Psalm 37:1-11, 39-40, 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50, Luke 6:27-38 Jesus tells us that we should love our enemies and do good to those who hurt us. Has there ever been any more difficult teaching than this? I’ve seen an image going around in certain circles that shows
Sunday, February 9, 2025 – Isaiah 6:1-8 [9-13], Psalm 138, 1 Corinthians 15:1-11, Luke 5:1-11 I have to confess, I’ve never been very interested in fishing. As a child, my brother often took rod and reel and went with our Uncle Richie, who just passed away a couple of weeks ago, to see what they
Sunday, January 19, 2025 – Isaiah 62:1-5, Psalm 36:5-10, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, John 2:1-11 If you were watching television in the U.S. between 1966 and 1973, I could probably say a certain phrase and hum a certain tune and you’d know exactly what I was referring to. “Good morning, Mr. Phelps” and [then I hummed
Sunday, January 12, 2025 – Isaiah 43:1-7, Psalm 29, Acts 8:14-17, Luke 3:15-17, 21-22 Most Sunday evenings, I have a standing date. Not with a man, but with a Masterpiece, the Masterpiece TV show on PBS that shows British dramas and mysteries, that is. I can’t get enough of them. I’ve often joked that I want
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 – Christmas Eve, Isaiah 9:2-7, Psalm 96, Titus 2:11-14, Luke 2:1-14 [15-20] Who is Jesus Christ? More importantly, who is he for us today? Titus tells us that Christ is the “hope and manifestation of the glory of God.” But to unknowing passersby, that tiny baby lying in a feeding trough,
Sunday, December 22, 2024, Fourth Advent – Micah 5:2-5a, Luke 1:46b-55, Hebrews 10:5-10, Luke 1:39-45 [46-55] I’ll never forget the experience of watching the chubby, frumpy middle-aged woman with an unflattering hairdo walk onto the big stage with the microphone in her hand. She had shared with the offstage hosts that she was 47, lived alone
Sunday, December 8, 2024, 2nd Advent – Gospel Luke 3:1-6, also Malachi 3:1-4, Luke 1:68-79, Philippians 1:3-11. I began this sermon by singing… “Prepare Ye the Way of The Lord, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the way of the Lord.” Who remembers that song? I’m
Sunday, December 1, 2024, First Sunday of Advent – Luke 21:25-36, also Jeremiah 33:14-16, Psalm 25: 1-10, 1 Thessalonians 3:9-13. Prior to the outbreak of World War I, psychiatrist Carl Jung had a series of visions that he later interpreted as foreshadowing the First World War. His visions included an image of a sea of
