Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached today at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel was Matthew 16:13-20.   Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. It is lush and green with a spring that is a source for the Jordan River. Situated at the foot of Mt. Hermon, which is the only place in the land where you will find snow, in which my then young children played.  It is not by accident that Jesus and his disciples find themselves there. Pastors Eric Fistler and Robb McCoy describe the scene:  Caesarea Philippi, [is] home to all sorts of crazy, pagan, awful stuff…our world, …our country, …our community, [can make us] feel overwhelmed and disgusted.  Even at those times, our job as a church is to confess Christ… whether it is popular or not…our confession…is that he is the Christ, the anointed savior, son of the living God. (Pulpitfiction.com) Martin Luther's view of the situation is this: Jesus takes occasion to reveal himself to the apostles. He shows what Christ really is, how we shal...

This is the reflection that will be sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. What are your thoughts on this gospel passage?   Gospel: Matthew 16:21-28 21 From that time on, [after Peter confessed that Jesus was the Messiah,] Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”   24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it pr...

This is the YouTube of the sermon I'm preaching live tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. Join us if you're in the area. The gospel text is Matthew 16:13-20. Here is the YouTube of the sermon.

This is the sermon I'll be preaching tomorrow at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. If you live in the area, please join us. The text is the gospel, Matthew 16:13-20 . Caesarea Philippi is beautiful. It is lush and green with a spring that is a source for the Jordan River. Situated at the foot of Mt. Hermon, which is the only place in the land where you will find snow, in which my then young children played. The Arab people call it Banyas, going back to the time when it was named for the Greek god, Pan. There is no "p" in Arabic. It has a long history of polytheism—from the god Baal of the Old Testament to the Greek god Pan, to Caesar, who was worshiped as a "son of a god." In this pantheon of gods, Jesus asks who people are saying that he is. Jesus has a question. “Who are people saying that I am?” The Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, indicates the action was continual, not once and done. As I hear Jesus’ wo...

Here are some thoughts about this Easter Sunday's first lesson. This was sent out to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. First Reading: Acts 10:34-43 34 Peter began to speak to [the people]: “I truly understand that God shows no partialit y, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him . 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil , for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses , and who a...

Here are some thoughts on this coming Sunday's gospel reading that were sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church. I would like your input. What do you see and hear? John 1:29-42a 29 The next day he saw Jesus coming towards him and declared, ‘Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.’ 32 And John testified, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.’ 35 The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, 36 an...

This is what I preached Sunday at St Timothy , Bemus Point and St. Mark , Mayville. The gospel text is Mark 8:31-38 . What is your first impression of the exchange between Peter and Jesus? Peter rebukes Jesus and then Jesus rebukes Peter. This is a very puzzling text, a real head scratcher. One might say that Jesus was having a bad day and was really mean and cranky with Peter. After all, Jesus did have a lot on his plate, especially with everyone's expectations of him as their messiah. What was so wrong about Peter's response to Jesus' news about suffering, being killed and rising?After all, Peter loved Jesus and cared about what would happen to him. Put yourself in Peter's shoes. Peter could not imagine his messiah and friend being subjected to such horror.  Wasn't  Peter responding in a way any loving friend would? Let's be honest with each other. Do any of you wonder why Jesus is talking like this?  Let's see what we can discover tog...