Claimed, gathered and sent

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...

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...

This is the message I shared with the people of God at Bethel Lutheran Church, Portville, NY. The scripture it is based on is Matthew 4:1-11 Today’s gospel passage comes right on the heels of the account of Jesus’ baptism, with the Father’s declaration that Jesus is his beloved son. And that was way back in January. God loves his Son so much that...the Holy Spirit leads Jesus “into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (v. 1). Doesn’t that seem a bit contradictory? Why would God do that? It’s a set-up!              The first words out of the devil’s mouth are, “If you are the Son of God..” (v. 2).   Prove it! You’re hungry. Do something about it. Turn these stones into bread. After all, what’s wrong with that? Jesus had fasted for 40 days. Of course, he was hungry.  Jesus’ response was to quote scripture to the devil. Jesus does not appeal to his divine rights, but identifies with humanity. Being G...