Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, May 12 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Rev. 7:9-17.  The book of Revelation is one that is easy to shy away from. We get side-tracked with beasts and horsemen on different color horses, an apocalyptic end of the world as we know it and on bad theology we pick up in movies and books. The thing is, the title of the book is not the Revelation of JOHN, but rather as its first few words say, “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This book is all about Jesus, so rather than avoiding it, say a pray before reading and embrace it. John wrote this book much later than other New Testament books were written. It was a time of great persecution for Christians under the Roman emperor Domitian. Many were martyred; thereby being added to the heavenly court. Revelation is a book of symbols, filled with hope to encourage these beleaguered Christians. Who are these gathered for worship in Revelation? They are an assortment of people from...

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 1/8, Baptism of Our Lord at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The scripture text was Acts 10:34-43.  What in the world does this passage from Acts have to do with the Baptism of Our Lord? Jesus' baptism was the signal that his ministry should begin. It was when the Father gave Jesus the assurance that he was the beloved Son and commissioned Jesus. God's message was incarnate in Christ, God's message was preached by Peter and the other apostles and God's message of God's inclusive love is to be shared by us as well. The first words of today's reading from Acts are, "Peter began to speak..." (v. 34). We struggle so much with sharing our faith with others. More often than not, we are associating with people who are like us--economically, racially and culturally. We do not encounter nearly as many barriers as Peter did. Yet, if we open our eyes beyond our neighborhoods, we will see many needy people ...