Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached on Sunday, 10/1/17 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and St. Mark Lutheran Church. The scripture text is Philippians 2:1-13 .  Paul ’ s letter to the Philippians is one of my favorites. It is full of positive, uplifting theology, like “ Rejoice in the Lord always ; again I will say, Rejoice (Phil. 4: 4 ) . It ’ s a feel-good kind of letter. Today ’ s passage from Philippians is chock full of great stuff and I could get at least 10 sermons out of it, however I will settle on one.   The first four verses, in which Paul piles up the ifs, are one long conditional sentence in Greek. When we hear if , we think then . We are much more linear in our thinking than were the early Christians. If could be translated since. Another way to look at these verses is “ If you ’ ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ (and you have), if his love has made any difference in your life (and it has) and so forth. This makes for a more per...

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 ...