

Equal Love
"What God has made clean, you shall not call profane." Today's Readings: Acts 10: [1-43] 44-48 ; John 15:8-17 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. On the church calendar, we are still in the season of Easter. After Jesus was resurrected he spent some more time on earth and had many conversations with the disciples. Before he ascended into heaven, he not only promised he would return someday, bringing the kingdom of God (


Fire, Water, and Freedom
5th Sunday of Easter Today's Readings: Acts 8:26-40 ; John 15:1-8 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Sometimes we as humans have the tendency to see the world in black and white.. the urge to separate things into categories, especially into good and bad. This way of thinking helps comfort us by giving us the illusion that there is order and that we have control. But that’s just it – an illusion .. and many of us get to


The Good Shepherd
Fourth Sunday of Easter – Earth Day Today's Reading: John 10:11-18 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is what we traditionally call ‘Good Shepherd Sunday’ because of our readings from John and typically the use of Psalm 23. When you think of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, I wonder what image comes to mind. For me it is that traditional photo of Jesus standing in a pasture with a lamb draped around his neck. This is a gentle Jes


Good News!
Today's Reading: Luke 24:36-48 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Christ is risen and we continue to proclaim this good news throughout the Easter season and until Christ comes again. It is truly GOOD news. But I’m willing to bet that none of us today have witnessed a resurrection first hand. The disciples share with us that it’s actually quite terrifying. Two weeks ago we heard that the women who found Jesus’ empty to


New Beginnings
A Second Covid Easter Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today's Readings: Isaiah 25:6-9 ; Acts 10:34-43 ; Mark 16:1-8 Alleluia, Christ is risen! Nothing brings me more joy throughout the Church year than this proclamation on Easter morning. Yet, this year we hear a not so joyful gospel text. The women who loved Jesus and cared for Jesus throughout his life and ministry are in mourning. Their son, friend, messianic hop


Maundy Thursday
Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today's Reading: John 13:1-17, 31b-35 Welcome to Maundy Thursday, or in other words – commandment Thursday. There are three major themes of tonight’s worship: Jesus invites the disciples to dinner, Jesus washes the disciples feet, and Jesus offers a new commandment. However, perhaps tonight is really just about that new commandment, and the washing and the feeding are just examples of w


God Comes Close
Fifth Sunday of Lent Today's Readings: Hebrews 5:5-10 ; John 12:20-33 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen. What is the point? What are we here for? Have these questions ever crossed your mind? They’ve certainly been on the minds of Christians for centuries. Some have said we are here as a trial for our next life; our life here determines where we will spend eternity: heaven or hell. Some have said this life is meaningle


The Power of Love
Fourth Sunday of Lent Today's Readings: Ephesians 2:1-10 ; John 3:14-21 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. In last week’s children sermon, Paul used a great analogy about spring cleaning and how Lent is a time to look within our hearts and see if there is anything we need to clean up inside. This goes so well with our Lenten call to repentance, which again, isn’t just feeling sorry for our sins, but turning toward the NEW life we


Flipping Tables
3rd Sunday in Lent Today's Gospel: John 2:13-22 Peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit This morning we heard a rather unsettling story about Jesus flipping tables and using a whip. John tells us that Jesus has traveled to Jerusalem for the festival of Passover, which celebrates the time God saved the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt. Jesus and other Jews all across the countryside were coming to Jerusalem, to the Temple, to make the tra


Pick Up Your Cross
2nd Sunday of Lent Today's Readings: Romans 4:13-25 ; Mark 8:31-38 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. One of the things I love about being part of the ELCA is that we always read the Bible in context. So to understand the full power of this gospel text, let us back up just a few verses. Our gospel reading started today with verse 31, but it’s verse 27 that sets the scene by telling us that Jesus and the disciples are i























