Claimed, gathered and sent

 Here are some thoughts on this coming Sunday's gospel: Gospel: John 3:14-21 [ Jesus said: ] 14 “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.   16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.   17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that i...

This is what I shared with St. Timothy Lutheran Church in our weekly eministry. It is my thoughts about the upcoming scriptures for this Sunday, the Baptism of Our Lord. Genesis 1:1-5 1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. REFLECTION I’m sure most of us, at one time or another, have watched Sesame Street—either as children, or with our own children or grandchildren. One of my favorite things on the program is when they show a number of images and ask, “Which one of these is not like the other ones?” Well, I must say that those words occurred to me as I loo...

This is the message I preached on Sunday, 7/3 at St.Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. The text is Galatians 6:7-16.. I'm not a big fan of a lot of jewelry, but I love the variety of crosses that people wear. The Jerusalem Cross is near the top of the list. What's unique about the Jerusalem Cross is the four smaller crosses that are part of it. The smaller crosses stand for Jesus' wounds in his head, hands, feet and side. And of course, being Irish, I feel a special affinity for the Celtic cross with all its interconnected knots. And in the middle is the symbol of the Holy Trinity, which is a triangle of inter-connected rings. These crosses are not only beautiful, but tell the salvation story. Then we have the cross our Lord Jesus Christ died upon. There is nothing attractive about it. It isn't pretty like our jewelry. The wood was not smooth and clean. At times, so many were crucified by the Romans, thatthere wasn't time to cu...