Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I preached last Sunday, 11/17/19 at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The text was Luke 21:5-19 . It has happened once again—another school shooting that has resulted in the death or injury of children. This time the act was committed in Santa Clarita, CA, by the children’s classmate on his 16 th birthday. We cry out like the Psalmist, “ Turn, O  Lord !  How   long ? Have compassion on your servants!” (Psalm 90:13). No matter what our feelings are on gun control, we struggle to understand how this can continue to happen in our country week after week. As of November 15, which was the 319 th day of the year, there have been 366 mass shootings in our country. This means an average of more than one mass shooting a day. More would have been hurt and/or killed had the kids not followed their active shooter training. I find it difficult to comprehend our children and grandchildren needing to practice in anticipation of the day when someone may come into

This is the sermon I preached on Dec. 2, the First Sunday of Advent, at St. Timothy Lutheran Church.  The text was Luke 21:25-36 Waiting is hard. Children on road trips cry out, “Are we there yet?” A friend of ours in PA. tells of when her son, Luke, was younger. When he knew a package was coming, each day he would sit out on the front steps of the house waiting for its arrival. Today is the first Sunday of Advent, itself a time of waiting for the  coming of something far more precious than a package. We await two comings of Christ: his first as one of us on earth and his second when he returns in glory. Today we focus on the second one. In today’s gospel text, Jesus moves his listeners from the realm of cosmic signs, to the realm of the listeners’ experienced world of nature and finally to their personal realm. Jesus first talks about the realm of cosmic signs (vv. 25-28). “ Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind Do this, don&