Claimed, gathered and sent

The gospel reading for this Sunday is Mark7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Here is the message I'll be sharing with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church,, Portville, NY where it is my privilege to serve as pastor.             Jesus has been busy in Mark’s gospel. He has already fed the 5,000, walked on water, and healed the sick. Jesus was like a rock star. The people would not leave him alone. The verse preceding today’s reading says, “ And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak …” (Mark 6:56).      Some of the scribes and Pharisees had come from Jerusalem to observe Jesus. He and his disciples were in Gennesaret, in the Galilee. That is over 97 miles away! It was no easy trip to get there in Jesus’ day. Why did the scribes and Pharisees go to Galilee? The crowds followed Jesus every...

This is the message I preached yesterday at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. The service was followed by our church picnic and ice cream social. It was a great day indeed! The sermon is from John 6:56-69 .                                              We have been on quite an adventure with Jesus, his followers, and his adversaries over these past five weeks in John’s gospel. Many things have happened since that first passage in John 6. Jesus’ disciples witnessed a feeding miracle and Jesus walking on the water. The audience has changed from being the crowd to being the Jews. Today, they are the disciples and the twelve. Jesus’ audience called him a variety of things. Jesus challenged and shocked his audiences by declaring he is the Son of Man, the one ap...