Sunday, February 25, 2024 - Mark 8:31-38 Also Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16, Psalm 22:23-31, Romans 4:13-25 After I graduated with my bachelor’s degree in communications from Purdue University, nothing seemed to go the way I’d planned it. I originally thought I’d…
Sunday, Feb. 11, 2024 - Mark 9:2-9, 2 Kings 2:1-12, Psalm 50:1-6, 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 Last week, I talked about what it must have been like to be near Jesus. To directly experience that pure love of God. We can’t…
Sunday, February 4, 2024 - Mark 1:29-39, Isaiah 40:21-31, Psalm 147:1-11, 20c, 1 Corinthians 9:16-23 In Jesus' Presence Do you ever wonder what it must have been like to be in Jesus’ presence? What would it have felt like to…
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…
Sunday, January 21, 2024: Mark 1:14-20, Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalm 62:5-12, 1 Cor 7:29-31 Jonah and the Ninevites Last week, I began with a discussion of the children’s swimming game “Marco Polo” to talk about seeking, finding, calling, and responding.…
Sunday, January 14, 2024 - John 1:43-51, also 1 Samuel 3:1-10, Psalm 139:1-6, 3-18, 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 We May Not Know God Last week, I talked about water and how much I loved being near the water. Which is kind…
January 7, 2024 - Mark 1: 4-11, Genesis 1:1-5, Psalm 29, Acts 19:1-7 I love water. I love being around water. Of course, here, that means I like to spend time at the beach, near the Gulf of Mexico. I…
December 31, 2023 - Luke 2:22-40, Isaiah 61:10-62:3, Psalm 148, Gal 4:4-7 On Christmas Eve, I spoke about “Mystery, Miracles, and the Unexpected.” And while it’s true that all three of those were in abundance at the birth of Jesus,…
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…
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…
The Second Sunday of Advent, December 10, 2023 Today is the second Sunday of Advent, and the emphasis of today’s readings is mostly on preparation for the coming of the kingdom of God, or what my friend Chuck Queen just…
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…
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…
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…
Matthew 25: 1-13 (November 12, 2023) For thousands of years, humans have built spiral-shaped labyrinths. You may think that a labyrinth is just like a maze, but where a maze often has dead-end paths, labyrinths do not. The pathway of…
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…
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…
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…