This is the sermon I preached today at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel is Matthew 28:16-20. If you've been with me in a restaurant, you know how hard it is for me to decide what to order. Likely, I will take a survey of what everyone else is ordering to see if their choices appeal to me. Generally, I whittle the possibilities down to at most 2–3 items. By the time it's my turn to order, I may order one of those possibilities or something completely different. This is a very time-consuming process. Just ask Ray. The dilemma I face when I have to decide what to eat at a restaurant is similar to the one faced by the disciples when they had to decide between worshiping the Lord and doubting his authority. Another way to put this could be, is he or isn’t he? The reaction of the disciples to seeing Jesus may seem a bit odd. After all, they have spent three years with Jesus—listening to his teaching, watching him work miracles and witnessing his death. After the resurrec
This is the message I preached at St. Timothy Lutheran Church and Grace Lutheran Church, Dunkirk. The text is Luke 24:44-53. Why do we celebrate Ascension Sunday? We don’t hear much about the Ascension in the New Testament. Paul doesn’t talk about it in his letters. John's letters don't say anything about this. Neither do Peter’s. The Ascension is not mentioned in any of them. If Jesus died and rose from the dead, isn’t that enough? After all, he would be alive. But if Jesus did not ascend to his Father, his mission would have been limited to the Holy Land. The disciples would have spread the faith there and died. Potentially, the Christian faith may well have died out. Jesus' ascension is an important event. It enabled the Holy Spirit to pour out its power on the early followers of Jesus. This facilitated the outpouring of power so that God’s word was spread all over, not just in a small area. In today’s gospel, Jesus is preparing the disciples not for his crucifixion, wh