Second Sunday of Easter Acts 2:14a, 22-32 Psalm 16 1 Peter 1:3-9 John 20:19-31 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you  from the one who comes to us in our fear and offers us peace Amen.    It was evening on that day, the first day of the week,  and the doors were locked where the disciples were, because they were afraid   John tells us that they were afraid of the religious authorities,  the ones who had engineered Jesus’ crucifixion thou

Palm Sunday * Matthew 21:1-11 Isaiah 50:4-9a Psalm 31:9-16 Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 21:12-16, 33-46 Matthew 26:1-16   Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from the truly powerful one who comes riding on a donkey. Amen   From the very beginning of his gospel narrative  Matthew has been contrasting the power and authority of God  with those who claim authority and power in the world.   After Jesus is born, the magi come to King Herod as

5th Sunday in Lent Ezekiel 37:1-14 Psalm 130 Romans 8:6-11 John 11:1-45 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you  from the one who calls us out of death to new life. Amen   “You shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live…”   This is what God does.   God brings life out of death. This is the glory of God.   Next week we enter Holy We

4th Sunday in Lent 1 Samuel 16:1-13 Psalm 23 Ephesians 5:8-14 John 9:1-41 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who looks on the heart amen.   “How long will you grieve over Saul?”  the Lord asks the prophet Samuel at the beginning of our first reading for today,   God has removed favor from Saul as king of Israel  and is preparing to anoint another, and Samuel is having a hard time making the transition.    Which is kind of

Third Sunday in Lent Exodus 17:1-7 Psalm 95 Romans 5:1-11 John 4:5-42 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from the Word who offers us living water. Amen   What is baptism?   Luther poses the question in his Small Catechism  and responds with: Baptism is not simply plain water. Instead, it is water used according to God’s command and connected with God’s word.   Water and word,  the two parts that make up the sacrament of baptism  (reme

Second Sunday in Lent Genesis 12:1-4 Psalm 121 Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 John 3:1-17 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you  from the one who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist Amen.   Today we begin our time with four gospel stories from John  that the early church used to help prepare new Christians for baptism. Today we start with the story of Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night where Jesus tells him,

First Sunday in Lent Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7 Psalm 32 Romans 5:12-19 Matthew 4:1-11 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who comes to bring justification and life for all, amen.   Why?   It’s the question that leads to other questions,  especially from curious four year olds such as the one who resides with me.   Why? is an important question but after the fourth or fifth or sixth why? In a row it is tempting to respond: “Tha

Ash Wednesday Joel 2:1-2, 12-*17 Psalm 51:1-17 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from the source of life, amen.   The call of Lent is the call to return to God.  Often in this call to return we hear it urging us to acknowledge the worst of ourselves,  to reform to avoid punishment from God. It doesn’t seem to be the most uplifting of messages.   To be fair we hear this perspective in the

Transfiguration Sunday Exodus 24:12-18 Psalm 2 2 Peter 1:16-21 Matthew 17:1-9 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from the one who reveals the glory of the Lord to us  and raises us up out of fear. amen   Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation  is his scientific and mathematical explanation  for how gravity works,    while even the briefest of internet searches will yield formulas and detailed explanations  it can be most simply summed

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany Micah 6:1-8 Psalm 15 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 Matthew 5:1-12 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who richly blesses us. Amen   God begins with blessings.   This is the truth that Jesus points to  as he begins teaching the disciples and the crowds that have gathered around him  in our gospel for today.   It is a truth that may not be so apparent in their lives.   Matthew tells us that after he calls

Third Sunday After Epiphany Isaiah 9:1-4 Psalm 27:1, 4-9 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 Matthew 4:12-23 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you  from the one who proclaims the kingdom of heaven  and calls us into relationship. Amen   How do we know when it’s the right time?    The right time for something new,  the right time to take a stand for or against something, the right time to repent, the right time to change?   Is it, as some have suggested

2nd Sunday after Epiphany Isaiah 49:1-7 Psalm 40:1-11 1 Corinthians 1:1-9 John 1:29-42 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from the one who is faithful Amen.   “What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done;  there is nothing new under the sun.”  proclaims the Teacher in Ecclesiastes (1:9),  often quoted in times of turmoil,   sometimes as an expression of despair-  there is nothing new under the sun, why d

Baptism of Our Lord Isaiah 42:1-9 Psalm 29 Acts 10:34-43 Matthew 3:13-17 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you  from the one who comes alongside us to fulfill all righteousness, Amen.   “What then are we to say about these things?”   This question from Paul in Romans chapter 8(v31-39)  echoed in my heart this week, not only was I spending time with the passage  in preparation for Denny’s funeral  but also I was,  to paraphrase Karl Barth

2nd Sunday of Christmas Jeremiah 31:7-14 Psalm 147:12-20 Ephesians 1:3-14 John 1:1-18 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who is both vast and intimate Amen   Merry Christmas! I know, it may not feel like Christmas anymore, Especially since the hope for peace on earth Has been shattered once again. As we struggle to understand And Wonder what to say And Pray for those in Venezuela  Christmas feels like it is over.   And yet

Christmas Eve Isaiah 9:2-7 Titus 2:11-14 Luke 2:1-20 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you from love born among us. Amen   Merry Christmas! People love Christmas for many reasons  but I suspect that underlying all of them  is the comfort of familiarity.   The essentials of Christmas rarely change all that much,  with Christmas you know what to expect each year,  no surprises other than what is under the tree    and for us who worship eac

4th Sunday in Advent Isaiah 7:10-16 Psalm 80:1-7,17-19 Romans 1:1-7 Matthew 1:18-25 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,  grace and peace to you  from love who says we are necessary. Amen   Have you ever wondered if Joseph  is really all that necessary for the Christmas story?    He doesn’t say anything, he really just seems to be there for his family connections, which I’m sure God could find another way to make,  and let’s be honest, God and Mary are really

3rd Sunday in Advent Isaiah 35:1-10 Psalm 146:5-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who is to come. Amen   Are we there yet?   Growing up we took several long family road trips and my parents always packed a large bag of mixed candy - something only seen around our house in such quantities at Halloween,  and when we were on the road as the day stretched on  and my brother and I were done bein

2nd Sunday in Advent Isaiah 11:1-10 Psalm 72 Romans 15:4-13 Matthew 3:1-12 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from our coming peacemaker. Amen   Today we lit the second candle on the Advent wreath,  the candle of peace, and in our scriptures we have a vision of the peace  that the messiah will bring from the prophet Isaiah,    most vividly imaged in the pairs of animals  that are naturally at odds with one another, or rather one usuall

First Sunday in Advent Isaiah 2:1-5 Psalm 122 Romans 13:11-14 Matthew 24:36-44 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who is on the way! Amen   Happy New Year! Yes, once again we are at the beginning of the church calendar,  the annual cycle we use to mark time  that guides us first through Jesus’ life and then through considering how to live as disciples of Jesus,   and as always we begin with a call to Wake Up!  God is comin

23rd Sunday after Pentecost Malachi 4:1-2a Psalm 98 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 Luke 21:5-19 Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ, grace and peace to you from the one who is making all things new. Amen   What do we do when the good news doesn’t sound so good?    This is the predicament the disciples find themselves in this morning.  Jesus has been proclaiming the good news  that the kingdom of God has come near, that even now it is coming  and that in the kingdom of