Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached On Sunday, 9/11 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran churches. The gospel text was Luke 15:1-10 . There are all kinds of ways of being lost. Any of you that know me very well, know that I have a poor sense of direction. Maps don’t help me. I easily get lost. To me, one of the greatest inventions ever is the GPS. I know that if I mess up and miss a turn, Garmin will still get me where I need to go…at least most of the time. There is a song that wonderfully describes our life at times. It's called "This is the Stuff." I lost my keys in the great unknown And call me please 'cause I can't find my phone This is the stuff that drives me crazy This is the stuff that's getting to me lately In the middle of my little mess I forget how big I'm blessed This is the stuff that gets under my skin But I've gotta trust You know exactly what You're doing Might not be what I would choos

This is the sermon I preached this past Sunday, which was Pentecost Sunday, 5/15/16 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churche s. The text was Acts 2:1-21 . Did you hear that wind yesterday? Do you think that's what the apostles heard when the Spirit appeared or do you think it was bigger and stronger than the wind that blew yesterday? In the book of Acts, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of wind and fire. We often describe the Holy Spirit as being like the wind. You can't see the wind, but you can see the effects of the wind when it blows through.   The same can be said for the Holy Spirit. You can't see him, but you know when he's made his presence known. What comes to mind when you hear the word Pentecost? Do you think the apostles were   bewildered by the sound of the wind? Do you picture all the apostles with little tongues of flame dancing on their heads? Do you think of the apostles addressing the crowd and each person hearing them

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, Aug. 30 at St. Timothy  and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The text was Mark 7:1-8,14-15, 21-23 . How many of us have had this experience as we have prepared a meal? You have your vegetables all ready and they look fabulous. You got an especially great deal on them.  Let's say you are ready to chop up a green pepper. You cut the pepper in half. When you see the inside, it's all nasty and moldy. It was so beautiful on the outside and you could just imagine the wonderful flavor it would add. However, the pepper was not what it appeared to be. This example illustrates the gist of what Jesus is talking about in today's gospel reading.   Jesus was in Galilee with his disciples when his frequent opponents the scribes and Pharisees who traveled from Jerusalem, arrive on the scene. We tend to have a very negative impression of the Pharisees. They often seem hung up on such minutiae. But, believe it or not, they we

Mark 4:35 – 41 35On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side." 36And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" 39He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?" 41And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" This is a model of the "Jesus Boat" which was discovered in 1986, during a period of drought which exposed a fishing boat of that era. It is the kind