Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 6/10/18 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . It is sprinkled throughout with family pictures. The text was Mark 3:20-35. It is nearly officially summer and we look forward to all those activities in which we participate at this time of year. For you it may be boating, bicycling or traveling. Among the various summer ventures, you may find yourself at a family reunion. And often at such events, we find quite a variety of lovely and loving family members that we may know well or perhaps never met. Then there’s always a character or two who you may try to escape throughout the reunion. l to r: Nick and Sarah Van Staalduinen, Hugh & Kathy Van Staalduinen Grace Alessi (in middle) Prior to today’s gospel reading from Mark, Jesus had been quite busy teaching, healing and setting people free by exorcising demons. His popularity was on the rise. Jesus had to be exhausted, so he went home. One would expect a nice family reunion. We would exp...

This is the message I shared on Sunday, 10/4 with St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran c hurches. The text is Mark 10:2-16. Many of us, find it difficult to hear Jesus' words on marriage and divorce. Either we have personally experienced the pain of divorce or we know people who have. It is so much a part of life in our day, that we dare not ignore this section of Mark's gospel. Through the tears and dashed hopes, God embraces us and by his grace puts our broken lives back together. Relationships are difficult. It is not always easy for us to love the way God wants us to, by letting him love through us. All of today's scripture readings focus on primary relationships by affirming God's purpose in creation. Jesus was still teaching about discipleship. In today's reading, Jesus shows us how discipleship is lived out in the family--in marriage and divorce and in our relationship with children. Earlier in Mark (3:31-35), Jesus had announced the formatio...