Sunday, June 23, 2024 – Gospel, Mark 4:35-41. Also Job 38:1-11, Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13 In 1991, a fishing boat called the Andrea Gail set out for the Great Banks of Newfoundland from Gloucester, Massachusetts, for a late-season sword fishing trip. Having just returned with an empty vessel, Captain Billy Tyne convinced his crew […]
Sunday, June 16, 2024 – Gospel, Mark 4:26-34. Also 1 Samuel 15:34—16:13, Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15, 2 Corinthians 5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17 In my last year of high school, our class did a senior play and performed “Ten Little Indians” (also known as \”And Then There Were Known\”) by Agatha Christie. You may remember the story. In
Sunday, May 5, 2024 – John 15:9-17 Also Acts 10:44-48, Psalm 98, 1 John 5:1-6 It’s not fun to feel left out. Last week, I began my sermon with a story about feeling like I didn’t quite belong at a conference at a Catholic seminary. Today, I want to share something a little more personal.
Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024 – Mark 16:1-8, Acts 10:34-43, Psalm 118: 1-2, 14-24, 1 Cor 15:1-11 Many years ago, when I was living in Marietta, Georgia, I held season tickets to the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. I used to love going downtown for those Sunday matinees. There are two productions I saw there that
This is the sermon that I wrote for Good Friday, 2024, that ironically I “forgot” to preach. You see, I’d written it, I printed it out, I took it to church, and…it stayed in my office. I didn’t even realize I’d blown past the part in the bulletin that said “Sermon” until we were into
Maundy Thursday, March 28, 2024 – Mark 14: 17-31 Mark 14: 32-50 Also Psalm 116: 1-2, 12-19, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 When Jesus and his followers gathered the night before he was crucified, they weren’t just meeting up for a friendly meal. They were marking the feast of the Passover, the Jewish commemoration of their ancestors’
Sunday, March 3, 2024 – John 2:13-22 Also Exodus 20:1-17, Psalm 19, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 God’s Power on the Mountain On the third new moon after the Israelites had left Egypt, they entered the wilderness of Sinai. And God calls Moses up onto the mountain and tells him the words that he is to speak
Sunday, January 28, 2024 – Mark 1:21-28 A Problem of Language Today, I want to talk about healing. In our gospel text, we hear of a man healed by Jesus of an “unclean spirit.” Jesus clearly performs an exorcism of that demon. Now, I’ve heard tell of present-day exorcisms, and I’ve seen the movie, “The
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
