Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 1/28 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The text was Mark 1:21-28 So far in Epiphany, Jesus has been revealed as the King of the Jews, the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the Messiah, a preacher and one who calls disciples. Today we have learned that he’s a teacher and exorcist and we hear a new title, the Holy One of God. Today’s gospel takes place in Capernaum, Jesus’ base of operations. Although Nazareth was his hometown, Capernaum was his base. On the screen, you see ruins of a synagogue in Capernaum from the 4th or 5th century, A. D. It is built on the foundations of a 1st-century synagogue, likely the one from today’s gospel. It is one of the few places today in the Holy Land where you can be where Jesus had actually walked. Capernaum was also where Peter was from and there are ruins of his house there as well. Now we need to change gears to have a better understanding of this story. Let’s talk about food! How do we eat sandw...

Below is the sermon I preached on Sunday, June 7 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. The gospel text is Mark 3:20-35 . Do you like sandwiches? What is your favorite kind? Is it peanut butter and jelly, roast beef, a meatball sub or maybe it's beef on wick. We know that a sandwich usually consists of two slices of bread with something in between them. Believe it or not, today's gospel also has a sandwich. It is a literary sandwich. This literary device is used by Mark in trying to explain a sub theme within a theme. Some scholars call this literary device, the Markan Sandwich. The Markan Sandwich begins with a story. Once you are really drawn into the story, Mark switches to another story. When that story is concluded, he switches back to the original story and finishes that.   The first slice of bread is Jesus' Nuclear family. People love to talk about the sensational and spread rumors, don't they? It was no different in Jesus...