Claimed, gathered and sent

Sunday, 9/17, was my first Sunday back in the pulpit after 7 months. I am not completely healed from February's back surgery, but am mostly there. The doctor is letting me work only part time until our next visit. This is the sermon from Sunday, 9/17, preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church .  based on Psalm 103 1:-13. When I read today’s lessons, I couldn’t take my eyes of of Psalm 103. This psalm is an individual psalm of one who was struggling in a desperate situation, who called out to God and God delivered him.This is my story too. As most of you know, I had back surgery in Feb. and I too, received God’s deliverance. Following the back surgery, I contracted an Ecoli infection that nearly killed me. I am here today to declare with the psalmist: “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits…” The odd thing about this psalm is that it isn’t a ...

4 Clues for Inviting Others to Church Effectively - Lewis Center for Church Leadership

I am by no means a Niebuhr scholar, but I cannot help but see the relevance of his words to us today. Check out this article. https://www.christiancentury.org/article/niebuhrians-left-and-right

2017 Pentecost Devotions II Wednesday, August 16 Isaiah 56:1, 6-8   1 Thus says the Lord:   Maintain justice, and do what is right,  for soon my salvation will come,   and my deliverance be revealed.   6 And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,   to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,   and to be his servants,  all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,   and hold fast my covenant—   7 these I will bring to my holy mountain,   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;  their burnt offerings and their sacrifices   will be accepted on my altar;  for my house shall be called a house of prayer   for all peoples.   8 Thus says the Lord God,   who gathers the outcasts of Israel,  I will gather others to them   besides those already gathered. “… Maintain justice, and do what is right, …” Maintaining justice isn’t about law and order, as a police officer or judge may do. It’s not even about fairness or equanimity, as in putting the same number of gi...

What do you think about this article? http://www.vergenetwork.org/2017/06/12/6-ways-to-reclaim-real-life-in-world-of-technology/?inf_contact_key=97aa4a6eeffc492e26d12b203a0bd1b4d36281252c882268cf5774ad9041690f  

It's been a long haul over the past few months. Basically, I lost about 7 weeks of time between having back surgery, being in the hospital for three weeks and rehab for 4 weeks  and then finally... coming home. Having what should have been a fairly straightforward surgery to take pressure off the nerves that go to my legs, led to a complication which put me in the ICU. I contracted  Ecoli. Basically, this all put me behind the proverbial 8 ball. At any rate, I am on the mend. I am finally able to drive a bit and am going to outpatient physical therapy three times a week. Before today, I couldn't even think about my blog. The funny thing is that earlier today I was thinking that I should post something and then I came across this wonderful prayer that I would like to share with you, which says it all: A Prayer for Pentecost (2006) Selected by Dan Clendenin.  A Prayer for Pentecost (2006)    Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life: At the beginning of tim...

This is the sermon I preached at St. Timothy and St. Mark Lutheran Churches on Sunday, 1/29. The scripture text is Matthew 5:1-12 . So sorry I couldn't add an apropos picture to this post. The computer was not cooperating. Today's gospel is the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, which is called the Beatitudes. Prior to this trip up the mountain, Jesus was healing and speaking while the disciples basically observed. They had a lot to process, so Jesus put some distance between himself and the crowd. Then his disciples joined him. Jesus' teaching was primarily for his disciples. Jesus is meeting on the mountain like a new Moses training his disciples in a new kind of righteousness. What exactly are the Beatitudes? To better understand what they are, let's look at what they are not. Some of you may be familiar with this explanation where the beatitudes are understood as the Bee------attitudes. Simply put, we are to try and try and try as hard as we can to live...