Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 1/15 at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The text was John 1:29-42 .   Don’t we share things that excite us with friends and family? Did you see that new movie that’s out? It was so exciting. You have to go see it! Or what about that new restaurant that’s opened up? The food is great. The service is wonderful. And the atmosphere is so relaxing. To top it all off, the prices are very reasonable. I’m telling all my friends about it. Today’s gospel reading is a whole series of people telling each other that they have seen Jesus, who they think he is and inviting those people to come with them to see for themselves. That is the way God grew the church then and we are given the basic things we need to know to allow God to grow the church today. It’s called evangelism, which is simply noticing what God is doing in our lives, sharing that with others and inviting them to come and see for themselves. A very simple pattern eme

This is what I preached last Sunday, 10/18 at St.Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches. The gospel text is Mark 10:35-45. Does it seem like Mark's gospel is repeating itself? Didn't we just hear something about being servants and that the first shall be last? It's like being on a merry-go-round that never stops to let us off. The disciples had to hear this teaching again because they didn't get it when Jesus taught them earlier. Today's gospel story occurs after the third time Jesus tells his disciples about his coming passion. After the first prediction (8:31), Peter objects and rebukes Jesus, after the second prediction (9:31), the twelve discuss who will be the greatest of them. After the third prediction, which is the most detailed one, we find the Zebedee brothers asking for favored positions in glory. James and John approached Jesus innocently enough, "Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us" (v. 35). Doesn't thi