GOSPEL The unprecedented events of the day of resurrection continue as the risen Jesus appears to his fearful disciples. A week later, after Thomas worships Jesus, Jesus pronounces that the blessings of the resurrection are also for those who “have not seen and yet believe.” 19When it was evening on that day, the first day...
Have you seen the movie or read the book The Color Purple? The main character is Celie, a poor black woman who has been abused all her life. But she has somebody in her life who loves her, her sister Nettie, who gets chased away by Celie’s violent husband. Her husband doesn’t let Celie ever see the...
Maundy Thursday 2022 Sermon This is a full night. Full of darkness and intimacy. Full of symbolism and tangible promises. Full of love and full of betrayal. Full traditions, many different sides, many devotional avenues to explore. Like a cut gem, you can turn over in your hand to see the different facets of our...
Sermon Palm Sunday of our Lord’s Passion April 10, 2022 Our entrance hymn today is pretty standard. Lutherans usually sing it once a year as we wave our palms – “All glory laud and honor to you Redeemer King. To whom the lips of...
GOSPEL Judas willfully misinterprets as waste Mary’s extravagant act of anointing Jesus’ feet with costly perfume. Jesus recognizes that her lavish gift is both an expression of love and an anticipation of his burial. 1Six days before the Passover Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 2There they...
Gospel: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32 Jesus tells a parable about a son who ponders his father’s love only after he has spurned it. The grace he receives is beyond his hopes. That same grace is a crisis for an older brother who believes it is his obedience that has earned his place in the father’s home....
Gospel Asked about current tragic events, Jesus turns a lesson about whether suffering is deserved into a hard call to obedience. He then tells a parable that holds out hope that the timeline for ultimate judgment will be tempered by patience. 1At that very time there were some present who told him about the Galileans...
GOSPEL: Luke 13:31-35 Neither Herod’s plotting nor Jerusalem’s resistance to maternal love will deter Jesus from his sacrificial mission. 31At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to [Jesus,] “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” 32He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and...
Gospel After being filled with the Holy Spirit at his baptism, Jesus is led in the wilderness. Through his responses to the temptations of the devil, he defines what it means to be called “the Son of God.” 1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in...
Gospel [Jesus said to the disciples:] 1“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2“So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that...
