Discipleship: The Art of Listening
Each week I am putting up a video on Wednesday on my congregation's Facebook page called "Wednesday Words on Discipleship" as we try and navigate today's climate as true and authentic disciples of Christ. You can find these videos by clicking HERE . This week I acknowledge that here in rural Iowa it may seem like racism and/or white supremacy don't exist. We are privileged to live in such a place where we don't have to witness these things on a daily basis, but that doesn't m
ALL are Welcome
4th Sunday after Pentecost Today's Readings: Jeremiah 28 ; Matthew 10:40-42 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. In our first reading today we find ourselves witnessing an encounter between the prophets Jeremiah and Hananiah in the temple. Jeremiah, a prophet of the Lord, has been walking around in a self-made and self-inflicted yoke to demonstrate the yoke the Babylonian empire has placed on the Jews. This took p
Discipleship
Matthew 22:36-38 - 'Teacher, what is the greatest of all the commandments?' Jesus said, 'The greatest and first commandment is to love the Lord your God. The second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself.' As part of my (as pastor) and the ELCA's pledge toward an anti-racist church and world, I have started to post a 20 minute (or less) video to my congregation's Facebook page each week. If you'd like to join this pledge too you can do so by CLICKING RIGHT HERE! This w
Alive to God in Christ
3rd Sunday after Pentecost Today's readings: Romans 6:1b-11 ; Matthew 10:24-39 Happy Father's Day! Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Last week our gospel lesson had some troubling words for the perils of discipleship and again today we hear some not so comforting or appealing words from Christ. Jesus was a nice guy. Jesus’ life did stand for love, peace, harmony, and unity of all people, but that cle
Called. Empowered. Equipt.
2nd Sunday after Pentecost – Yr A Readings: Exodus 19:2-8a ; Matthew 9:35-10:23 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. The Lord said to Moses and the Israelites, “The whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5-6) As we heard last week from Genesis, God created all the earth, all of humanity and called it good. So that got me thinking, why would God choose to give
Praise God, 3-in-1
Holy Trinity Sunday Today's Readings: Genesis 1 ; Matthew 28:16-20 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Today's sermon comes to us from the ELCA Bishop Elizabeth Eaton. You can watch the video here or read her words below. Thanks be to God! "Well, a lot has changed since last Trinity Sunday, not just the COVID-19 pandemic under which we live. But also, the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed, handcuffed black man by a wh
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Pentecost Sunday Today's Readings: Acts 2:1-21 ; John 20:19-23 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is traditionally the day we say ‘Happy Birthday’ to the Church! Now normally when we have birthdays we are bummed about getting another year older, but I think for the Church it might be the opposite.. how AMAZING is it that the Church has lasted SO long!? How powerful is our God, is the SPIRIT, for being present and mov
Wait and Pray
7th Sunday of Easter/Ascension Sunday Today's Readings: Acts 1:6-14 ; John 17:1-11 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. In our Creeds we confess that we believe in Christ who lived, died, rose again and ascended into heaven. In today’s readings we hear about this ascension and how 40 days after Jesus rose again, he mysteriously went to be with the Father. But as we heard last week, Jesus promised that we would never be left
God Lives In You
6th Sunday of Easter Today's Readings: A cts 17:22-31 ; John 14:15-21 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. This morning we hear from the book of Acts about the time the Apostle Paul visited the great, ancient philosophers of Athens, Greece. He was disturbed by all of the gods, shrines, and idols he found there, but then he came across a shrine labeled: “ To an unknown god .” Then Paul proceeded to explain to them
Fear Not, Troubled Heart
5th Sunday of Easter - Christ is risen! Alleluia! Readings: Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16 ; John 14:1-14 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Explaining God is a hard job. Explaining the Trinity, is even harder. Impossible, in fact! It is something our brains cannot comprehend even if we were to stand face-to-face with the Triune God. Some have taken this John text and used verse 6, “no one comes to the Father except throug
