Advent 2: Hope

"Prepare ye the way of the Lord!"  We hear the word of Scripture calling us to prepare the way of the Lord, in our hearts, in our homes and in our communities.  What does this look like?   Based on (Mark 1:1-8 and Isaiah 40:1-11)

Advent 1: Advent Gifts

December 3, 2017
Advent 1

Jesus comes with gifts of peace, love and joy.  December often feels anything but a month of peace, love and joy.  How do we experience the presence of Christ during this busy month?  Pastor Rob offers you three Advent gifts.  Based on (Mark 13:24-37)

Freedom of a Christian, Part 6, Freedom to Praise

November 25, 2017
Christ the King Sunday
Freedom in Christ:  Freedom to Praise
Part 6 in a Reformation 500 series

Hear the good news:  God is judge!  This seems like terrifying news, but as Pastor Rob explains and proclaims, this is great news!  Ironically, viewing Christ and Christ alone as our judge sets us free to follow God's path in our life and live in God's mercy! A look at the parable of the Sheet and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46).

Freedom of a Christian, Part 5, Giving

November 19, 2017
​Freedom in Christ: Freedom to Give
​Part 5 in a Reformation 500 series
​​We all know that being generous is good -- it is commanded by Christ, it is good for our neighbor and its even good for ourselves.  So why do we struggle to be generous?  How can our faith empower and enable us -- truly set us free -- to live generously.  Pastor Rob looks at the parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-33).

Freedom of a Christian, Part 3, Grieving

November 5, 2017
​Freedom in Christ: Freedom to Grieve
​Part 3 in a Reformation 500 series
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Our church celebrates All Saints Sunday today, a day that includes the remembrance of those who have entered the church triumphant in the past year.  Pastor Rob talks about the strange and beautiful freedom we have to grieve as people of faith.  The sermon is based on Jesus words from the sermon on the mount, "Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted."

Freedom of Christian: Part 2, Repenting

October 24, 2017
​Freedom in Christ:  Freedom to Repent
​Part 2 in a Reformation 500 series
​Title option 1:  A world in need of adults
Title option 2:  When will the reformation be over?
Title option 3:  The Reformation is all about Jesus Christ

500 Years ago Martin Luther kicked off the Reformation with a call to repentance.  In so doing he drew us closer to the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.​   Pastor Rob covers the whole Bible in this sermon.

Freedom of a Christian: Part 1

October 24, 2017
​Freedom in Christ
​Part 1 in a Reformation 500 series
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How does my faith in Jesus Christ free me to live?  Pastor Rob launches a six week series, in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, that is focused on the freedom that Christ gives us.  Today we look a passage in which Jesus "frees" himself from a trap (based on Matthew 22:15-22).

Unity in Christ 3

October 15, 2017
United in Christ: Our Pledges
Part 3 of our Stewardship Series

Most times Stewardship and financial giving to the church is framed in terms of a response to God's generosity in our lives.  We give out of a response to what God has given us.  This year Pastor Rob frames our giving in terms of our unity -- that we make a commitment and pledge together to the ministry to which God has invited us.  The sermon is based on Luke 14:15-26.

Unity in Christ 2

October 8, 2017
United in Christ: The Body of Christ
Part 2 of our Stewardship Series
Given the events in our nation and world, Pastor Rob takes us the question -- where is God in the midst of all of this, especially the violence and destruction of human life?  Pastor Rob looks at Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 12:1-12) to explore and proclaim how God brings us together as the body of Christ to serve, pray and proclaim even amid human and natural tragedy.

Unity in Christ 1

October 1, 2017
United in Christ: The Cross
Part 1 of our Stewardship Series
In a divided and even polarized time, Pastor Rob points toward our unity in Christ.  Specifically Pastor Rob looks at Paul's letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 1:10-18) to explore and proclaim our unity in the cross.

Economy of Grace

September 24, 2017

What a difficult parable Jesus tells in Matthew 20:1-16.  It seems to teach that hard work isn't rewarded.  Pastor Rob reflects on how -- rather than offering ethical advice for the earthly economy -- Jesus offers us a glimpse of God's economy.  In God's economy the currency is God's mercy, not our own merit!

God vs Human Forgiveness

September 17, 2017

Pastor Rob continues a two part sermon on forgiveness.  Reflecting on Jesus' parable of the unforgiving servant (Matthew 18:21-35), we dive into what it means to forgive people, especially in difficult situations.  Pastor Rob offers that the forgiveness we extend as humans, however good and difficult, is far less than God's forgiveness!

Loving One Neighbor at a time

September 10, 2017

In today's Gospel, Jesus offers some very practical advice:  When you have a conflict, go to a person one on one.   (Matthew 18:15-20).  In the age of talking heads and tweets, this seems more relevant than ever.  The more we ponder Jesus' words though, the more we realize he is offering us life and hope, not just advice.
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Picking up the cross...in a busy world

From September 3, 2017

"If anyone wants to come after me, let them deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow me."  These are Jesus' bold words of challenge that issues to his disciples in our Gospel story this week (Matthew 16:21-30).  What does it mean to pick up our cross?  In our busy world, the thought of picking up one more thing seems impossible! 

Confession of Hope

From August 27, 2017

What if the world is going to heck in a hand-basket?  In our Gospel story this week (Matthew 16:13-20), the disciples are on the road to Caesarea Philippi .  This town is Las Vegas meets Game of Thrones.  It is precisely on this road that the disciples are called to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  This is a confession of hope. 

The way of Jesus

From August 7, 2017
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Just like us, the disciples are overwhelmed by the problems of the world.  Their way, all to often our way, is to give up.  The way of Jesus is fundamentally different.  It is a way of prayer, compassion and multiplication.  We look at the feeding of the 5,000+ found in Matthew 14:13-21.

Wisdom for Decisions

From Sunday, July 30

Decisions, decisions, decisions.  In life we face many decisions.  How does God grant us wisdom to make tough decisions?  Based on the story of Solomon and his dream, 1 Kings 3:1-15.

Getting un-stuck

From Sunday, July 23

What happens when we get stuck in life?  Pastor Rob unpacks how God helps us turn the page the the next chapter of our lives, reflecting on Romans 8:12-26.

God's purpose in our lives

Sunday, July 16

Pastor Rob takes on the popular notion that our purpose in life is finding our passion.  As Christians we find our meaning and purpose in following Christ as we serve our neighbor.  Yes, this does relate to our passion, but not quite as the culture would teach us.  Based on the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13:18-24.

Humble Commission

Sunday, July 2

Jesus teaches us that taking up our cross means serving in humble and often small ways.  As we live out Jesus' teachings, we discover God's power to make the ordinary into the extraordinary.  Based on Matthew 10:38-42.

The Image of God and Creation

Sunday, June 11: Holy Trinity
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Genesis 1 and science often seem in such conflict that Christians back away from this beautiful and powerful passage in Scripture.  In this sermon, Pr. Rob offers a look at Genesis 1.  First, to see how science and Scripture intersect powerfully; and second, to learn what Scripture uniquely tells us about God and the universe.

Pentecost: Our place in the story

Sunday, June 4: Pentecost
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The story of Pentecost is a wild one -- tongues of flame, large crowds, loud wind and languages of all varieties.  What does this story have to do with our own?  A special focus today is on the youth in our church who are confirmed and how they will take their place in the Pentecost story.  The Pentecost story begins  in Acts 2:1-13.

Community in Christ 5: Joy!

Sunday, May 28, 2017: Ascension
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Pastor Rob concludes his preaching series on Community in Christ.  We tie it together by focusing on a central feature of the Christian Community:  Joy in Christ.  Indeed, the Gospel of Luke begins and ends with joy.  But what to do when the world does not sing a joyful song to us?  A reflection on the Ascension and Luke 24:36-53.

Community in Christ 4: Sharing the Good News

​Pastor Rob continues our preaching series on Community in Christ. This week we focus on the need to share the Good News of Jesus in a "marketplace of ideas."  We learn from Paul how to do this -- and it starts with listening.  Based on Paul's trip to Athens, found in Acts 17:16-34.

Community in Christ 3: Open Hearts and Heart Aches

Continuing the  preaching series on Community in Christ. This week we focus on the consequence of open hearts -- heartache!  Loving our neighbor in Christ is not easy, especially those for whom we care deeply.  A reflection on Mother's Day, Lollipops and Heartache.  Based on Acts 7:54-60.

Community Series 2: Open Hearts

Sunday, May 7, 2017
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​Pastor Rob continues our preaching series on Community in Christ. This week we focus on an essential mark of the Christian community -- Open hearts!  Hearts that are so open they lead to Open Doors!  The sermon focuses on Acts 2:42-47.

Community Series 1: Worship

Sunday, April 30, 2017
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​Pastor Rob launches a sermon series on Community.  It is something we hunger for in our world.  Christ offers us a place in the community called the Christian church.  I begun our sermon series by focusing on worship as the central act of the Christian community, looking at Luke 24:13-35.

I just need it to be morning

I just need it to be morning!  We all go through long nights, long chapters of our lives in which we wait for the morning light.  This Easter, as always, we hear the Good News that morning has come and Christ is Risen!   
​The Gospel this morning is from Matthew 28:1-10.

Trouble Being Served

Jesus begins to wash his disciples feet.  Peter becomes very uncomfortable.  Why is this?  And why are we probably like Peter?  It is hard to think of being served and being loved by Christ  (John 13:1-35).

Real prayer and real God

This Lent we've focused on prayer in a variety of ways:  praying in color, praying through home devotions and praying through the Catechism.  This week we hear one of the most raw prayers in the Bible, as Mary (not Jesus' mother) expresses her grief to Jesus (John 11:1-45).  The response of Jesus is a reminder that we are real with God, we discover who God really is.

Send and open!

Samuel, the great prophet of God, has lost his perspective on what is important to God and what is not.  In life, even as faithful Christians, we can lose our godly perspective, missing out on the Kingdom of God!.  Looking at the story of Samuel anointing David (1 Samuel 16:1-13) and Jesus giving sight to a blind man (John 4:5-42) we learn how God opens our eyes...and what this has to do with the two Baptisms at our church this day.

Woman at the well

How do we share God's love with people who are spiritual dry?  Jesus teaches us!

Nic at Night

Nicodemus was a man whose life made sense...until Jesus showed up.  This sermon builds on John 3:1-17 and is for anyone whose ever had their spiritual world suddenly not make sense.

Rend Your Hearts

For Ash Wednesday, Pastor Rob reflects on the prophet Joel's command to "Rend your hearts."  What does this mean?  And why does this make sense for us to hear as we enter Lent?  Pastor Rob offers that prayer is a way in which we can rend or open our hearts. 

Turn the other cheeck

We hear Jesus famous and familiar words:  "turn the other cheek."  While they sound good, we all know this is a struggle to live this way.  Pastor Rob warns against the temptation of watering Jesus words down (Matthew 5:31-38) for in them we discover the power and love of God.

Dealing with Anger

We live in a world torn apart by anger.  Pastor Rob reflects on Jesus words from Matthew 5:21-26 and Jesus' warning against anger.  How do we live in and care for a world when "Anger Industries" seeks to spiral us out of control?

Reading the Bible: 4 P's

In celebration of the new pew Bibles and the giving of Bibles to our 3rd graders, Pastor Rob looks at Matthew 5:13-16 and proposes a way to do home devotions with the Bible.  He employs 4 p-words:  Ponder, Practical Application, Promise and Prayer. 
​Note:  This is not the recording from Sunday, but a later recording of the words for the website

Power of God

Power works much differently in the Kingdom of God than it does in the kingdom of the is world.  Exploring the words of Paul (1 Corinthians 1:18-25) and Jesus, (Matthew 5:1-12), we examine what power looks like in God's Kingdom.

The What, Why, How, When and Who of our Mission

In this Sunday's Gospel reading (Matthew 4:12-23), we hear Jesus call his to disciples to follow him. Pastor Rob shares the What, the Why, the How, and When and the Who of Jesus's call for us at St. Paul. Preview: Its about a great big net!

Januaritis

Do you ever get a case of "Januaritis" -- where you feel busy but don't feel like you are moving forward? Like you are moving but not making a difference? The cure of Januaritis is found in the waters of Baptism!

Christmas Eve (Pondering with Mary)

"Mary pondered these things in her heart." We come to Christmas Eve with much to ponder. What will we ponder this year? Pastor Rob invites you to ponder your life in light of the Christmas story.

Advent III (Joy)

This morning's Scripture readings present us with two entirely different images: a confident and joyous Mary; a doubting and imprisoned John the Baptist.  The life of a Christian includes both doubt and joy. Indeed, as we grow older, often our doubts increase as does our hunger for joy.  Is there a way for our Advent to be filled with joy?