Christmas Eve 2014

The Christmas story is filled with interruptions...the engagement, the pregnancy, the first night...what do we make of these interruptions in the story?  What do we make of the interruptions in our lives?

Advent IV and Average Joe

Mary gets the attention, but the other member of the holy family is quite impressive.  As we follow his role in Jesus' birth we learn anew what it means that Jesus is, "God is with us."

Advent III: Mary and Joy

n our society today, many children do not know THE Christmas story.  Why bother passing on this story?  In the encounter of Mary and Elizabeth we find one answer:  the Joy that comes from Jesus Christ.

Advent II: John the Baptist

No matter how you try to make sense of it, John the Baptist is a strange guy.  Locusts, camels hair, the river Jordan, “brood of vipers”, etc.   Rather than try to explain away his “out of the box” behavior, we can point to and rejoice in the work of God, who works through and on behalf of those outside of society’s box.

Advent I 2014: Keep watch!

Jesus today tells the people to keep watch.  As we look toward Christmas, we too must keep watch.  Not that we will fall asleep, but that overwhelmed by all the "stuff" of Christmas, we will miss the true purpose and beauty of this season.

Past mistakes are not the future

The imagery in Isaiah 2 has inspired Jews and Christians for centuries.  It is God's vision for humanity but also God's vision for the people of God.  The more we get into these words, the more we realize just how amazing they are.  They are a reminder that our future is not limited by our past or our present but belongs to God.

Micah 6:8

As we walk through the Old Testament this fall, we begin our look at the Prophets.  What could be a better place to start than Micah 6:8:
What does the Lord require of you, O Mortal?  Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God

Reformation Part 2

We continue our look at the basic truth:  We are saints and sinners.  This week we focus on being saints!

Reformation Day: Part I

This Reformation Day, we look at the Lutheran insight that we are always Saint and Sinner.  Part 1 of 2.

Whom to listen to

In life we get bad advice...and good advice.  Sometimes it is obvious to whom we should listen.  Other times its not.  How do we know the difference?

10 Commandments

Why did God give us the 10 commandments?  What are they all about?

As for me and my house

The promised land has one problem:　 there are a bunch of people who do not believe in God who live there?   Joshua, who will lead them into the promised land, must prepare them for this reality.　 How does Joshua prepare them?　 What can we learn from Joshua today, as we live into a post-Christendom world?

Confession and Forgiveness

In this sermon we reflect on Psalm 51 and the great power of confession and forgiveness.