Quick, blog something!
When your website address starts being included on things like bulletins and weekly church emails, you quickly become acutely aware of how infrequently it has been updated. So, without further ado, here is the video of my sermon for Sunday, July 3. This was my first Sunday with the ELCA Worshiping Community of Holdrege, Nebraska.
An Unexpected Call to Ministry
Text: Genesis 12.1-4 a Occasion: Monday after Lent 2, Year A. This, my senior chapel sermon, was delivered on Monday, 21 March 2011, in Loehe Chapel at Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, IA. I can be sure that God has a sense of humor, because I am in seminary. In Iowa. I had never really [...]
Not what you do, but Whose you are
Text: Psalm 32; Romans 3.28-4.12 Occasion: Wednesday after Lent 1 This sermon was prepared for the Wednesday evening Lenten Service at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Dubuque, IA on 16 March 2011. “Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it [...]
Willing Servants of All
Text: Matthew 5.38-48 Occasion: Epiphany 7, Year A This sermon was prepared for Saturday and Sunday worship at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Manchester, MO on 19-20 February 2011. One of the great things about Good Shepherd is that it’s got an nice website where you can always look up the latest sermons, so I [...]
What Will the Neighbors Think?
Text: Matthew 1:18-25 This sermon was prepared for the Fourth Sunday in Advent, Year A for the class Feasts and Seasons at Wartburg Theological Seminary and was given in Loehe Chapel on Monday, December 13, 2010. Two years ago, I failed Christmas entirely. I bet you didn’t even know that you could do that, did [...]
Gratitude and Hospitality
God is not in the business of getting along with “pretty good people,” God wants to save sinners. This kind of thinking turns the world upside down. Jesus’ encounter with Simon the Pharisee and the “sinner” woman shows us that God’s love flows freely for those who know they need Jesus the most.
Total Loss
A sermon on Luke 7.11-17 I preached at St. John’s on June 6. While our lives are often a total loss, Jesus steps across the boundaries of space, time, and culture to give us hope and new life.
Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved
I’m getting the church caught up on sermon video this weekend, and a few of them are my own sermons. This is the first. This was my sermon for Pentecost 2010 on Acts 2.1-21. The sermon recalls that Pentecost reverses the confusion of the Tower of Babel and draws God’s people together again, where we [...]
Mother’s Day Sermon
A sermon preached at my internship site, St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL, on May 5 and 9, 2010. The message connects John 14:23-29 (the text for Easter 6, Year C) and Jesus’ promise of shepherding comfort to the way that mothers provide a glimpse of God’s comfort and grace. It also speaks to the [...]