Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church on 6/3/18. I had the privilege of confirming three young people in their faith. The scripture text was 1 Samuel 3:1-10. In the chapters that precede this lesson, we learn about a promise Samuel’s mother, Hannah, made to God. Unable to have children, Hannah vowed that if God gave her a male child, she would give him to the Lord. God answered that prayer and that’s how Samuel came to be with Eli as a surrogate son and apprentice.    Even before Samuel knew God, God knew him before he was born. Allie, Lucy and Alex, God knew and loved each of you before you were born as well.    Your parents too, brought you to God’s house to be baptized, dedicating you to God as you became part of the family of God. As a parent, I know the thrill of a child coming into the life of a family. I’m sure your folks were thrilled when you came into their lives.    We’re told that Samuel did not yet know the Lord ...

This is the sermon I preached this morning at Grace Lutheran Church, Petersburg, WV. The gospel text is Matthew 4:1-11 .             Chronologically, things are a bit out of order in our lectionary. In January we celebrated the Baptism of Our Lord. Last week it was the Transfiguration of Our Lord. This week we go back before the transfiguration to a time immediately following Jesus’ baptism. Last week we were on the mountaintop and this week we are with Jesus in the wilderness of temptation.              Into that desolate place, “Jesus was led by the Spirit … to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). If we want to know what today’s gospel is about, it’s all summed up in the first verse, then fleshed out in the following verses.  Do any of you remember the comedian Flip Wilson? His character, Geraldine Jones had an excuse for everything she did wrong. She would say, “The...

Sometimes, it's just like God keeps hitting us over the head to get a message through. Well, today's lesson is the same one I've been hearing over and over and over--look for God in the places you don't expect to find God. Last night it was Pizza Hut. Ray's hair was getting a little longer than he likes it, so we decided to go to the barber shop today. We went in and sat down. There were 3 people ahead of Ray, so we were there a while before it was Ray's turn. I noticed that the music playing in the background was Christian music (Southern Gospel), which I thought was interesting. When it was Ray's turn to get into the chair, he introduced himself and then me as the intern at Grace Lutheran Church. The barber, Duke, brightened right up and said he was a retired Methodist preacher! He added that we would have an interesting conversation. That we did. Duke told us the story of his call at age 30 and the difference Christ has made in his life. He rela...