Sermons
Living Stones
1 Peter 2:2-10
Easter 5 Year A
Katharine Redpath, Pastoral Intern
I have been learning a great deal about stones this week, as I puzzled over that contradictory phrase used in the 1st Peter reading. The writer urges the early Christian readers and listeners regarding Jesus to: “Come to him, a living stone.” Later the writer describes Jesus as the cornerstone, and quotes the ancient Hebrew Scriptures in which the people of Israel are described as the cornerstone that God wished to use in establishing a relationship with his people on earth.
THE CHURCH—BOTH HUMAN AND HOLY?
Acts 2:42-47
The Fourth Sunday of Easter
April 13, 2008
Pastor William S. Waxenberg
(The baptized) devoted themselves to the
apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the
breaking of bread and the prayers.
The Golden Compass. Last December, the movie by that name caused a great stir among believers and unbelievers alike. Based on the first book of Philip Pullman’s trilogy, entitled His Dark Materials, the three stories are allegedly about the destruction of the church and the death of God. Philip Pullman is an avowed atheist, living in England, who evidently has made it his mission to wipe out Christianity from the hearts and minds of children.
Many faithful folk were upset by The Golden Compass because they felt the movie watered down Pullman’s true motives. And many of the unfaithful were just as upset because they felt that the movie’s watering down of his true intent wasn’t in keeping with Pullman’s mission.
SHARING OUR INHERITANCE
I Peter 1:3-9
Second Sunday of Easter
William S. Waxenberg, Pastor
Sometimes you can’t help but rejoice. Sometimes there’s just such good news that you want to shout it from the housetops. So it is with our psalmist for today. He’s been blessed by God—and he knows it.
THEY ALMOST ALWAYS DISAPPOINT US—ALL BUT ONE
I Samuel 16:1-13
Fourth Sunday in Lent
March 2, 2008
Pastor William S. Waxenberg
Well, it’s an exciting time, isn’t it? I mean the primaries, especially the presidential primaries. (And, by the way, if you haven’t voted yet, be sure to do so on Tuesday. Here endeth the commercial.)
But the presidential primaries of 2008 are unique in so many ways. If he wins it all, John McCain will become the oldest president ever inaugurated. If Mike Huckabbe wins, he’ll be the first pastor to become president. If Barak Obama, the first president of African-American descent. If Hillary Clinton, the first woman.
And, regardless of who wins, this will be the first presidential contest since 1952 that either a sitting president or a sitting vice-president aren’t in the running.
CAN THESE BONES LIVE?
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 9, 2008
Pastor William S. Waxenberg
Imagine being in a living room. A living room of average size with average appointments. There are paintings and photographs on the walls, there’s a couch, several chairs, tables, table lamps, an entertainment center with a stereo and a large, flat-screen TV. There are lots people milling around the living room too, both family members and guests. People are chattering and with drinks in hand when suddenly one of the kids accidentally drops her glass of Coke which spills all over the carpet. Ice and cola everywhere. She shrieks and puts her hands to her mouth. Everyone stops, turns, looks, and stares. She’s sharply rebuked by her father while her mother scurries to the kitchen for a roll of paper towels.
SHAKING THE FOUNDATIONS
Matthew 28:1-10
Easter Sunday
March 23, 2008
The first shock wave rolled through the city of San Francisco at 5:12 in the morning. The after shocks began less than two minutes later. In the space of less than 120 seconds, the most devastating earthquake ever known to have hit the United States was over. The subsequent fires were just beginning. And on April 18, 1906, 490 city blocks were destroyed, 25,000 buildings crumbled, 250,000 were left homeless, and it’s estimated that as many as 2500 people lost their lives. One eyewitness reported seeing buildings, giant skyscrapers, being moved off their bases out onto the sidewalks before they crumbled. It was a shaking of the foundations of an incredible magnitude.
Matthew 4:12-23
Kathy Redpath, pastoral intern
Jesus was a man on a mission. He had work to do and he needed some helpers, people he could depend on. He wanted people who would accompany him in his ministry, people who would carry on with his mission when he was gone. He was searching for a few good followers, people who would witness what he did, remember what he said, and then tell others all about it. He knew he wouldn’t be walking these roads forever—he needed disciples who would be willing to speak up later about all that had happened. He needed people who wouldn’t be reluctant to share what he was going to teach them, to tell of what they had seen and what they had heard while they followed him throughout the countryside.
John 1:29-42
Second Sunday after the Epiphany
Pastor William S. Waxenberg
I’m always amazed—no, that’s not it—I’m always inspired by the insights of people in our Wednesday Bible studies. There’s a depth of faith that arises out of a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus that works its way to the surface week after week. It’s a joy to behold.
So last Wednesday it happened again—in both the morning and the evening Bible studies. I reminded folks that this was the Epiphany season and asked if they remembered what the word ‘epiphany’ means. And they came up with the right words: revelation or manifestation. But then someone in both groups shouted out, “It’s the season of ‘aha!’”
Matthew 3:13-17
The Baptism of Our Lord
William S. Waxenberg, Pastor
So, you want to be a righteous person do you? Well, maybe you do, or maybe you’ve never thought about it before. But, if you do, what does it mean to be ‘righteous?’
It’s a word fraught with danger, isn’t it. We think of someone who’s righteous, and almost immediately we think of someone who’s self-righteous. And that’s never a good thing.
Luke 2: 8-20
Kathy Redpath, pastoral intern
As I walked slowly down the hallway of the hospital where I worked the night shift, I happened to glance into a darkened patient room just in time to see confused, 94-year old Annie trying to get herself out of bed. She already had one leg up and over the raised sidebar. Her second leg quickly followed, and then, with more strength and quickness than I would have thought she possessed, she heaved her torso up and over the bar and her frail body headed for a crash landing on the floor.
Now, it was not my job as a respiratory therapist to be taking care of senile, post-surgery patients. My training did not include how to handle an unsteady, incoherent patient who might be trying to climb out of bed at two in the morning. As long as she was breathing, she wasn’t my responsibility. Technically, I was not required to do anything in response to what I saw. And yet, clearly the scene before me begged for some action on my part, trained or not.
Matthew 1:18-25;
Romans 1:1-7
Kathy Redpath, Pastoral Intern
During the summer that my youngest son, Spencer, was six years old, we spent a week with my mother’s first cousin in Toronto, Ontario. Aunt Bette, as we had always called her, was my mother’s favorite cousin. My mom had died several years earlier, and Spencer no longer really remembered her, so I was glad to know that he would have the opportunity to meet this cousin, the one to whom his own grandmother had been very close.
Matthew 24:36-44
Kathy Redpath, Pastoral Intern
There is a New Testament professor at Trinity Lutheran Seminary who will tell you that he firmly believes that Jesus Christ will return to earth sometime during his own lifetime. Dr. Mark Allen Powell is not shy about saying that he expects to be here when Jesus comes again. He looks forward to seeing, with his own eyes, the return of Jesus in great glory. But Dr. Powell will also tell you that while he waits, he won’t be sitting around gazing at the heavens, waiting for the action to begin. Instead, he will be carrying on with his daily tasks, teaching classes, attending conferences, writing books, and engaging in all the usual activities of daily living. Confident in his conviction that Jesus will come, he uses his belief to inform the way he waits, the way he prepares.
John 6:25-35
Kathy Redpath, Pastoral Intern
"What’s for dinner?"
If I asked that question today, I’d probably receive a different answer from everyone I asked. But if I ask that question on Thursday, just a few days from now, peoples’ answers would probably be much more similar. On that national day of thanksgiving I would guess that most of us here today are anticipating bowing our heads to offer our thanks to God just before we dig in to some version of the traditional Thanksgiving day meal: golden roasted turkey, bursting with savory dressing. Creamy mashed potatoes, bathed in thick brown gravy. Sweet potatoes, smothered in gooey melted marshmallows. Tart cranberry sauce, sweet corn, green beans, crisp salad, warm dinner rolls. All this...and then… the desserts!
2 Corinthians 9:6-8
24th Sunday after Pentecost
Pastor William S. Waxenberg
"Cheerful Sacrifice." That’s our direction for today, which is the fourth Sunday in our stewardship series, under the overarching theme of "Stories to Tell; Gifts to Share." We began three weeks ago with "Graceful Living." Then we heard about "Grateful Living." And last Sunday, it was "Giving to the Church." Today we’re all about "Cheerful Sacrifice."
Acts 4:32-37
Stories to Tell; Gifts to Share. This is our overarching theme for stewardship this year: Stories to Tell; Gifts to Share. Two weeks ago we considered what this might mean for us as we thought about "Graceful Living." Then last week we heard about "Grateful Living." Next week we’ll reflect on "Cheerful Sacrifices." Today, I invite you to think about "Giving to the Church."
This saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance,
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
Philippians 4:10-13
21st Sunday after Pentecost
William S. Waxenberg, Pastor
Graceful living. Do you know people who live gracefully? Of course you do. People who live gracefully, who live their lives in faithful response to God’s grace given in Jesus Christ.
Today we begin a five week stewardship journey under the overarching theme of “Stories to Tell; Gifts to Give.”
