A Life of Worship
12 Sunday After Pentecost Today's readings: Romans 12:1-8; Matthew 16:13-20 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Who do you say that Jesus is? Some said he was a wannabe Jewish king and they crucified him. Some even questioned if he was Beelzebub, a demon or the devil. Some have said that he was a false prophet, others have said he was the greatest prophet in all of history. Some have said that he was the Son of Yahwe
The Power of Words
11th Sunday After Pentecost Today's readings: I saiah 56:1, 6-8 ; Matthew 15:10-28 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today’s scripture readings both highlight God’s desire to welcome in those whom society has deemed outcasts and foreigners. Israel may have been the city on a hill for all to see the light of God, but they were far from perfect. They were supposed to be God’s example to the world of kingdom livi
Walking on Water
10th Sunday After Pentecost Today's Readings: Psalm 85:8-13 & Matthew 14:22-33 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today’s story picks up where last Sunday’s story left off. After a long day of healing the sick and feeding the crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children, Jesus sends off his disciples and dismisses the crowds and finally takes a moment of respite. Jesus goes up the mountain to pray alone. First and
Fed by God Alone
9th Sunday after Pentecost Today's Readings: Isaiah 55:1-5 ; Matthew 14:13-21 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. In our first reading this morning I am tempted to compare this scene to a modern day carnival of sorts (in non-COVID days, of course). At a large festival there may be bouncy houses, carnival rides, pony rides, bands playing, fun houses, cotton candy, funnel cakes, games with prizes and children yel
The kingdom is like..
8th Sunday After Pentecost Readings: Romans 8:26-39 ; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Today is the third Sunday in a row Jesus describes the kingdom of God as a Seed. This week the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which is an exceptionally small seed that yields a shrub/tree much larger than you might expect. Jesus here is giving us images to relate to the kingdom of God at work;
Wheat and Weeds
7th Sunday after Pentecost Today's Readings: Romans 8:12-25 ; Matthew 13:24-30; 36-43 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Last week we heard Jesus tell the parable of the sower. This week Jesus goes on to tell the parable of the weeds, which (I don’t know about you, but) I find a bit harder to digest. If you remember from last week, I talked about how God created and sowed the seed.. and because God created the
Grow; Live; Become
6th Sunday after Pentecost – Yr A Today's readings: Isaiah 55:10-13 & Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23 Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. Allow me to paraphrase what God says through Isaiah in our first reading from today, ‘Just as sure as the rain and snow falls and nourishes the earth with water which germinates the seeds that will bear fruit and produce food for you to eat, so shall my Word go out and accomplish what
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
