Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018. The text was Genesis 1:1-5.   I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words came to me as I looked over the scripture lessons for today I understand how the gospel story of Jesus’ baptism and the story from Acts regarding baptism fit together, but Genesis? That seemed to be the one thing that was not like the other things. Let’s see if we can get a handle on the creation and how it relates to the Baptism of Our Lord. Have you ever seen an image from the Hubble telescope? I recently saw one that contains around 10,000 galaxies, including some that were not visible in previous imaging. It was so beautiful and was such an

Sunday, we had healing services at both St. Timothy Lutheran Church and at  St. Mark Lutheran Church i n Mayville. It is a part of our liturgy which I always enjoy. We do this whenever there's a fifth Sunday. A few came forward at St. Timothy and it was a significant time for folks whether they came forward or remained in their seats. When we began this part of the service at St. Mark, nearly everyone that I laid hands on threw there arms around me and many said that they needed to pray for me. They had tears in their eyes. The Holy Spirit fell and visited us in such a special way. Nearly everyone came forward for prayer and God's presence was with us in such a sweet way. Reflecting back on that time, the words of Michael W. Smith's song, Healing Rain came to mind. Along with that there was the thought that the tears that were shed on Sunday were God's healing rain of tears. Here is the You Tube of Healing Rain. I am asking for your prayers as well. I have fou