Sermons
Are you hopeful?
“When you think about the future, are you hopeful or scared? I rely on the Bible to understand what God will do and I search its pages to figure out what God expects from me.”
Be Not Afraid. Luke 21:9
In today’s Gospel (Luke 21:5-19) Jesus describes events that take place at the end time; things we would experience before the second coming of Christ.
Jesus wept.
Mary wept. Martha wept. Jesus wept. The story about Lazarus’ death and resurrection reminds us that grief is inescapable and beckons us to grieve with faith. John 11:1-44
Attitude Matters
“The parable in today’s Gospel (Luke 18:9-14) invites us to examine our attitudes. This invitation comes with a warning: doing the right thing while harboring a wrong attitude compromises our relationship with God. Bad attitudes distance us from God by making it hard for us to conceive of, let alone offer, God’s love to ourselves and others. Attitude matters.”
Can I get a witness?
“The parable told by Jesus in today's Gospel (Luke 18:1-8) has two characters: a judge and a widow. Jesus used this parable to teach the value of persistent witness.”
God’s Amazing Grace
“There is a cease fire between Israel and Hamas. What a relief! I know huge hurdles lay ahead: prisoner and hostage exchanges; securing peacekeeping troops from other countries; developing interim and long term governance; and rebuilding hospitals, homes, and sewer, water, power, and communication systems. No matter what happens next, this cease fire is a relief.”
What do you treasure?
What do you treasure? As you ponder this question, listen to these wise words from Jesus, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
What are you doing to get God’s mercy and pity?
The Collect for this day bids us to focus our attention on God’s mercy and pity as we listen to the assigned readings. God’s mercy and pity are so potent, they make possible salvation in this life and in the life to come. Paul’s first letter to Timothy proclaims God’s mercy and pity. Paul tells readers they can fight the good fight and win if they understand money is the root of all evil and if they understand God’s mercy and pity, as modeled by Jesus, which empower “righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.” 1 Timothy 6:6-19
Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
Jesus seems to be giving money management advice in today's Gospel reading, Luke 16:1-13.
Good works.
“The Collect for the Day is recited at the start of every Communion service. Collects are prayers. Prayers composed to focus our attention on themes in the Bible readings. In today’s collect, we are asking God to foster our faith so we can do good works.”
Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord to thee.
God invited Jeremiah to become a prophet. God said to him,
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Keep your eyes on the prize.
The book of Hosea is a collection of sermons and poems by the prophet for whom this book is named. Hosea preached and wrote over the course of 25 years around 722 BCE. This book preserves God’s communications with Hosea. These communications show us God partnering with Hosea to keep Israel’s eye on the prize.
Take It To the Lord In Prayer
“Jesus regularly took time to pray. Jesus prayed to connect with God. Jesus prayed to direct, strengthen and correct his work. Prayer was essential to his life, faith and ministry. After one of his prayer times, the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. They asked because they saw what prayer did for Jesus and wanted the same benefits for themselves. The disciples needed direction, longed for strength, and preferred God’s corrections to those in Torah laws, priests’ criticisms and rabbis’ instructions.”
"Who is my neighbor?" Luke 10:29
In the Gospel lesson, a man a lot like us asked Jesus two questions: who is my neighbor and what must I do to get into heaven? His questions test Jesus, but they also reveal his unconscious anxiety about whether he was bound for heaven or hell. The first question from this accomplished professional and scholar of religious law: “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The Lord appointed others and sent them out. Luke 10:1
The reading from Luke provides instructions on how to be an evangelist. These instructions show us how we to share the Good News and how to install God’s kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.