Sermons with Reverend Killjoy: Recent Episodes
Andrew Tengwall
Reformation Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary
Psalm 46
On this Reformation Sunday, Hope Lutheran Church held our final worship together. Joined by loved ones and friends old and new, we shared the good news together. Here is the sermon that was part of our celebration.
Lectionary 30 / 20th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary C
Luke 18:9-14
The prayers of the Pharisee and the tax collector can tell us a lot about ourselves and how we relate to God and one another.
Lectionary 29 / 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 18:1-18
Jesus' reassurance to his followers to not lose heart can be as helpful to us today as it was when he first told them this parable about the persistent woman.
Lectionary 28 / 18th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 17:11-19
In this sermon immediately prior to the special congregational meeting in which Hope Lutheran Church voted to close and dissolve our congregation and give away our remaining funds, the story of Jesus healing ten men with skin disease helps us remember how thankfulness stands at the heart of the choices we are making.
Lectionary 25 / 15th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 16:1-13
Jesus' enigmatic parable about a manager, a rich man, and some debtors provides an unexpectedly helpful lens for making sense of the ongoing changes to our congregation.
Lectionary 24 / 14th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 15:1-10
Jesus' stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin remind us of the basics.
13th Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 23, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 14:25-33
When Jesus scares us with stark exhortations, we remember that the church moves forward by death and resurrection
Luke 14:1, 7-14
This week's lectionary readings spoke directly to our national conversation about debt. It's not easy to follow Jesus in an unfair world striving for fairness.
Lectionary 20 / 10th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 12:49-56
Jesus was not nice.
Lectionary 18, 8th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 12:12-21
Why does Jesus talk about money so much? Why do we talk about money so much?
Lectionary 16 / 6th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Colossians 1:15-28
Jesus is Christ of the whole world
Lectionary 15 / 5th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 10:25-37
What must I do to inherit eternal life? How did this question lead to Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan?
Lectionary 14 / 4th Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
A sermon for this day
Hope Lutheran Church Sermon Audio 6/26/2022
Third Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Galatians 5:1, 13-25
Sometimes the news of the day frames the way we need to share the gospel. Freedom and bodily autonomy and loving our neighbor. It's a lot.
Second Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year C
Luke 8:26-39
On this Juneteenth Hope joined with our new host congregation Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church to commemorate this day and to look at our Gospel story of demonic forces and freedom. What can we learn from the man possessed by demons? What can we learn from the rest of the Gerasenes whose region Jesus is visiting?
Pentecost, Lectionary Year C
Romans 8:14-17
We are all adopted as children of God and heirs to all that God has given Jesus. So take heart, even though nothing is easy for so many.
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C
Psalm 97
In the midst of evil and pain and so much cause for lament, we boldly proclaim our trust in God, whose power rests on justice and righteousness.
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C
Acts 16:9-15
Paul and Lydia and the beginnings of the Macedonian church at Philippi provide us with a fantastic set of models for our own churches and ministries today.
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year C
Acts 11:1-18
In today's lesson from Acts, Peter asks the excellent question, "Who was I, that I could hinder God?" Let this question be good news for you as we seek to follow Jesus in these complex times.
Third Sunday of Easter, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
John 21:1-19
Pastor Andrew is back again to reflect on Jesus' final visit to his disciples in John's Gospel.
Second Sunday of Easter, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
John 20:19-31
Pastoral Intern Per Halaas returns on the Sunday after Easter to tell us about Jesus' visit to Thomas and the rest of his disciples.
Easter Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 24:1-12
Pastor Andrew returns to preach our first Sunday in our new space, the chapel at Gustavus Adolphus Lutheran Church on Arcade and Larpenteur. Resurrection looks different this year.
Maundy Thursday, Revised Common Lectionary
John 13:1-17, 31b-35
For our final worship gathering in our historic building, Pastoral Intern Per Halaas preached on John's pivotal story of Jesus' last night with his friends.
Palm Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
On the 100th anniversary of our first worship service at Hope Lutheran Church (April 9th, 1921), our Saint Paul Area Synod Bishop Patricia Lull brought this word to a packed house gathered to celebrate the anniversary on our last Sunday in our historic space at 1340 Hazel Street N.
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
John 12:1-8
This story of Mary washing Jesus' feet is the last thing before Jesus enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in John's Gospel. What can we learn from her in this last week before our big Palm Sunday at Hope Church?
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
2 Corinthians 5.16-21
God is making all things new, even the brothers from the story we call the Prodigal Son.
Third Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Isaiah 55:1-9
The great feast of God's grace is an ideal scriptural reference for this Sunday celebrating the end of Hope and Good Samaritan churches sharing our space and our lives these past seven years.
Second Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18
God's promise of descendants to Abraham is also a promise to Hope Church today.
First Sunday of Lent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 4:1-13
In this opportune time, what are we to do?
Ash Wednesday, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
As we return to God amid so much turmoil this Lent, what are the spiritual practices we will engage in to ground ourselves?
Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Jeremiah 17:5-10
Trees. If I preach about trees, does that mean I've been too immersed in re-reading Lord of the Rings? Trees remain a powerful symbol of life and renewal.
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus' disciples left everything and followed him. They trusted in Jesus rather than in what they had known or relied on before.
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Paul's famous lesson about love is a model for the life of the church together.
Third Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
A sermon focused on "today" based on Jesus' proclamation that "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" takes a different direction when the day is dramatically changed by tragic news.
Second Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
John 2:1-11
In the rituals we share as Christians, God uses ordinary things to do the extraordinary.
Baptism of Our Lord, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Isaiah 43:1-7
We have a wide variety of ways to think about baptism. In the end baptism is what we need it to be.
Third Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 3:7-18
We don't talk about money in church nearly as much as people talk about it in the Bible, so today let's do that, like John the Baptist does in our Gospel lesson.
Second Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 1:68-79
Zechariah's song at the birth of his son John casts a vision for how we can join in the journey of God's work in our world.
First Sunday of Advent, Revised Common Lectionary Year C
Luke 21:25-36
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13
How do we wait for the Day of the Lord? We raise up our heads and tell the truth, in love and gratefulness.
Reign of Christ Sunday, RCL Lectionary Year B
John 18:33-37
Revelation 1:4b-8
Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
The eternal cosmic Christ, angels and thrones and fire and the battle between good and evil is all part of the story the church tells this time of year. We can also remember that all these grand narratives come down to the actual lives of actual people whom God loves.
Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 33, Revised Common Lectionary Year B
With our final Mark reading of the lectionary year, we find the disciples still failing to follow Jesus faithfully, and Jesus still making promises that God will reward our faith even as the sky seems to be falling around us.
All Saints Sunday, Revised Common Lectionary Year B
Revelation 21:1-6a
At the end of our Bible, God promises to make all things new. Death and mourning and crying and pain remain with us, even as God promises they will be no more. We trust in God's promise.
Lectionary 30, Revised Common Lectionary Year B - 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
Mark 10:46-52
When Jesus restores sight to Bartimaeus, we learn both about Jesus and about an unlikely paragon of faith and prayer.
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 28, RCL Lectionary Year B
Mark 10:17-31
The rich man asks what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus tells him to sell everything before returning to follow Jesus. What is possible and what is impossible in following Jesus?
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 25, RCL Lectionary Year B
Mark 9:30-37
Jesus tells his friends what will happen to him, and they ignore him and instead argue which of them is the greatest.
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 23, RCL Lectionary Year B
Isaiah 35, James 2:1-17
Do not fear! How do we develop a healthy relationship with fear while following Jesus?
Lectionary 29B
Mark 10:35-45
After Jesus again tells of his impending arrest, suffering, death, and resurrection, James and John ask a stupid question of Jesus. Jesus talks about leadership as servanthood and about points us toward the truth of freedom in Christ.
Joshua 24:1-18. Lectionary 21B. Joshua asks God's people to renew their covenant with God before entering the promised land.
7th Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 15B Mark 6:14-29. On the story of the death of John the Baptist.
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 14, Revised Common Lectionary Year B
Mark 6:1-13
Jesus offers abundance to a community and a world bent on seeing scarcity.
Finally catching up on a few months of sermons now that my tech issues are resolved.
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 26, RCL Year B
Mark 9:38-50
What a messy Gospel lesson today! What will Jesus need to say or do to make people finally understand that they (we) need to care about one another?
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 24, Revised Common Lectionary Year B
Mark 8:27-38
What did it mean for Jesus to be the Messiah? What does it mean for us to follow him? Here at Hope Church right now, we have a unique opportunity to take up our cross and follow.
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 24, Revised Common Lectionary Year B
Mark 8:27-38
What did it mean for Jesus to be the Messiah? What does it mean for us to follow him? Here at Hope Church right now, we have a unique opportunity to take up our cross and follow.
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 13, Lectionary Year B
Psalm 30
On this first day back in worship together, in person, in our building, with a baptism and Eucharist, what better scripture to convey the breadth of our feelings than Psalm 30?
Third Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 11, Lectionary Year B
Mark 4:26-34
Jesus' parables of seeds growing into plants don't tell us how God's beloved community grows, but they do tell us that if we trust in God, we will see that growth.
Second Sunday after Pentecost / Lectionary 10, Lectionary Year B
Mark 3:20-35
As demonstrated in today's challenging scriptures from Mark's Gospel and from Genesis, evil and division and mutual enmity break our relationships with each other and with God. But that's not the whole of our story in Jesus.
Holy Trinity Sunday, Lectionary Year B
Isaiah 6:1-8
Isaiah's ministry was formed and informed by the trauma of a king's death, war, and a terrifying holy vision. This famous call of Isaiah looks different in light of the collective trauma we have experienced over the past year, and we may be able to see ourselves in this story in a new way.
Pentecost, Lectionary Year B
Romans 8:22-27
The Holy Spirit brings us hope, binds us together, and intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.
Fifth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year B
1 John 4:7-21
God is love. What does this mean for us? How do we love one another?
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year B
1 John 3:16-24
Our second lesson from First John gives us a powerful vision of what it can look like to live out the love of God we have received in Jesus. How can the lessons of that community so long ago shape our church's faithful response today?
Third Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year B
Luke 24:36b-48
"You are witnesses of these things." Jesus' words to his disciples look different after all we have witnessed in our community and our nation this week.
Easter Sunday, Lectionary Year B
John 20:1-18
Death is real, and so is resurrection. You are not alone.
Maundy Thursday
John 13:1-35
Jesus' last evening with his disciples is filled with important moments. It is a night that weighs heavily on followers of Jesus, but we are not alone in carrying that weight.
Palm Sunday / Sunday of the Passion
Mark 15:1-39
As we enter this Holy Week with Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the story of his death, we can leave our expectations behind.
Fifth Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year B
John 12:20-33
Jesus' heart is grieved in today's lesson as he tries again to explain his impending death and resurrection, this time only days before it occurs. As we lament anti-Asian racism and violence, we recognize this story of grief, death, and resurrection.
Fourth Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year B
Ephesians 2:1-10
Today's lesson from Ephesians gives us a clear and concise description of the power of God's grace in our lives.
Second Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year B
Mark 8:31-38
Just as Jesus died and rose again, his body on earth - the church - lives into God's future through death and resurrection.
Hope, Our Redeemer, Grace, and Arlington Hills Lutheran Churches in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Mark 1:9-15
This four-minute reflection on Jesus' time in the wilderness focuses on the curious detail that "he was with the wild beasts." What was that about?
First Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year B
Genesis 9:8-17
God's covenant with Noah and all animals serves as an early indication of God's unending grace.
Ash Wednesday
Mark 6:1-6, 16-21
Ash Wednesday feels different on Zoom. This year we incorporated the imposition of ashes and also an anointing into a unique two-part sermon-and-ritual.
Transfiguration Sunday, Lectionary Year B
Mark 9:2-9
No matter how far we have felt from the mountaintop this past year, Jesus is here with us. He came down from the mountain for us.
Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year B
Mark 1:29-39
In our Gospel story today, after Jesus heals many and casts out demons at Peter's house, Peter tells Jesus "everyone is searching for you." Today, again, everyone is searching for something. How can we be the body of Christ for one another in times like these?
Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year B
Mark 1:21-28
Paul says don't eat meat! I haven't had meat since 2001. Ha! Just kidding. The decisions we make do affect others, and our faith calls us to act with responsibility toward our neighbors.
Third Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year B
Mark 1:14-20
Jesus begins his public ministry in Mark's Gospel with the bold declaration that the time has been fulfilled. In the 100th year of our congregation, Hope Lutheran, we will be looking to God's fulfillment of time and what God will be doing next.
Baptism of Our Lord, Lectionary Year B
Mark 1:4-11
In light of the cross and the noose erected on the grounds of our nation's Capitol building this week, we looked into Dr. James Cone's The Cross and the Lynching Tree to help us make sense of Christianity in America today before diving back into the baptism and repentance of our scripture for today.
Second Sunday of Christmas, Lectionary Year B
John 1:10-18
We begin a new year with the Word made flesh and all that it means for us.
Fourth Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year A
Luke 1:26-55
Mary's conversation with the angel and the song she sings in response to her conversation with her cousin Elizabeth are among the most powerful witnesses of what it means when God intervenes in our world.
Second Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year B
Isaiah 40:1-11
God's word of comfort to the people exiled to Babylon can be a powerful word to us today.
First Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year B
Isaiah 64:1-9
A new church year starts with a bang, as Isaiah begs, challenges, reminds, wheedles, cajoles, and otherwise engages God in conversation about what God can do for God's people in their time of need.
Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
What can we say about these times? More importantly, how can we spend this time in faithfulness to Jesus?
23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Amos 5:18-24
What a week for us to hear Amos' cry that justice should roll down like rivers and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Also, I failed to stop this recording in time, but am too 2020 to edit the recording for you, so you can just stop it when the sermon ends.
All Saints Sunday, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 5:1-12
In his famous and powerful teaching known as the Beatitudes, Jesus teaches us the values by which we can live in harmony with one another and with God. The news during this election season throws those values into stark relief, and we see that they are so much more than niceness or pleasant platitudes.
Reformation Sunday
The freedom we receive in Christ is freedom to love and serve our neighbors.
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 22:15-22
Give to God what is God's. Easier said than done, because our relationship to government is complicated as followers of Jesus.
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 22:1-14
Isaiah 25:1-9
One of Jesus' most frightening parables, paired with one of Isaiah's most beautiful visions for the Reign of God: somehow this helps me understand why people in power may need not be afraid of those they oppress.
Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 21:33-46
We have reached the time of the church year when our Gospel lessons tell of Jesus in the temple. Tensions are high as Jesus makes his final public arguments about the kingdom of God.
Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Ezekiel 18:1-4, 24-32
Ezekiel's message to God's people during the time of exile speaks to how we can respond today to our history and current circumstances. This week those circumstances included the charges against the killer of Breonna Taylor, the ongoing pandemic, Rev. Lenny Duncan's call for reparations in the ELCA.
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 21:1-16
Are you envious because God is generous? Jesus and Jonah show us who God is.
Fifteenth Sunday of Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Romans 14:1-12
There is more than one way to follow Jesus, more than one practice that is faithful.
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20
Today we hear from Jesus and Paul how to live together.
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Jeremiah 15:15-21
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28
Our guest preacher for this week, Shelby Condray, is a renaissance man in San Diego with a theological degree from Boston University and a passion for justice as an expression of the Gospel. His reflections on the shooting of Jacob Blake and the deaths of other Black and brown people at the hands of the state intersect with the prophetic words of Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus to weave a powerful image of what it means for us to take up our cross. Enjoy.
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
The transformation we experience in Jesus includes a renewed relationship with God, with our neighbors, and with our own bodies.
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 15:1-28
The compassion of Jesus and the Caananite woman's persistence offer us models for how to engage in God's work in our lives.
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 14:13-21
Psalm 85: 8-13
God promises good for us, and Jesus offers us a model for caring for ourselves in preparation for caring for others.
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 14:13-21, Isaiah 55:1-5
Compassion leads Jesus to feed 5000 men (plus women and children!). We trace that compassion from our reading in Isaiah to today.
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
Romans 8:26-39
The kingdom of heaven is like... a lot of things, many of which make sense to us while some do not.
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Romans 8:12-25
Paul writes the good stuff in Romans, and here it is. God's promise of redemption is for our whole selves and the whole creation.
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Jesus' famous parable of the sower reminds us that we are dirt, in a good way.
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 10:40-42
Welcome, welcome, welcome. Who does the welcoming? How do we follow Jesus?
Third Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 10:24-39
Today's Gospel lesson includes Jesus bringing not peace, but a sword, as Jesus tells us how to follow him and engage in his work.
Second Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 9:35--10:23
Today we enter what the church has called "ordinary time," and it if we are to faithfully follow Jesus in this time it will not be ordinary at all.
Seventh Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
On the eve of Memorial Day, American deaths due to COVID-19 approached 100,000. Our reading from the First Letter of Peter today gives us a good opportunity to reflect on what this milestone means for our nation. It also gives us a good starting place to reflect on how upcoming changes to pandemic gathering rules will affect our congregation and how we follow Jesus together.
Ascension Day
Inspired by Festival of Homiletics preachers Rev. Lenny Duncan and Rev. Dr. William Barber II, I approached this favorite passage from the beginning of Acts with an eye toward the racialized economic and health effects of the current pandemic, and the Holy Spirit's response.
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
John 14:15-21
Today's lectionary gives me a chance to talk about some of my favorite choral music, as an example of the comfort Jesus' promises can bring in this time of pandemic and uncertainty.
Sixth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
John 14:15-21
Today's lectionary gives me a chance to talk about some of my favorite choral music, as an example of the comfort Jesus' promises can bring in this time of pandemic and uncertainty.
Pentecost
Acts 2:1-21
Well, this week our community and then our entire country exploded in civic unrest after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd. In the middle of an ongoing pandemic. What does it mean for us to cry, "Come, Holy Spirit!" on Pentecost on a time like this?
Fourth Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
Psalm 23
Amidst a global pandemic, I was deeply grateful for the opportunity to spend a week focusing on Psalm 23, one of the great biblical texts of comfort and grace.
Third Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
Luke 24:13-35
In the iconic story of the resurrected Jesus' walk to Emmaus, we find so many images that shape our life of faith and our worship even today. What can this familiar story teach us about how to follow Jesus in these unprecedented times?
Second Sunday of Easter, Lectionary Year A
John 20:19-31
In Jesus' appearance to the disciples in the upper room, he uses very few words to say an enormous amount about what it will mean to follow him after he has gone.
Matthew 28:1-10
As a steady snow fell in Saint Paul, an unexpected group gathered online to celebrate a resurrection unlike any other, on an Easter Sunday unlike any other. What comes next, after death and resurrection, and after the current crisis of pandemic subsides? Where do we go from here?
John 13:1-35
I absolutely should know better than to preach over 17 minutes in an online Zoom live worship, but here we are. Because we're missing so much these days - foot washing and Eucharist tonight, at least - I decided to look at the part of our Gospel story that is usually omitted (missing) from our lectionary reading for Maundy Thursday.
First Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 4:1-11
Psalm 32
A tour through the day's scriptures until we find good news in the Psalm.
Third Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year A
In our Gospel lesson from today, Matthew references the Kingdom of Heaven, aka the Kingdom of God, the Kin-dom of God, the Reign of God, the Realm of God, the Beloved Community, etc. What's that?
Second Sunday after Epiphany, Lectionary Year A
Isaiah 49:1-7
I... did not write anything down for this sermon, at all, anywhere. I stuck to this great reading from Isaiah, and the Holy Spirit brought us through.
Baptism of Our Lord, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 3:13-17
The baptism of Jesus, and our own baptisms, give us identity and send us into the world.
Epiphany of Our Lord
Matthew 2:1-12
No reflections of current American politics in this story, nope, none at all, nothing to see here, move along.
This is one of those that might have made more sense the day of than weeks later now that I'm getting around to posting it.
Nativity of Our Lord: Christmas Eve
Luke 2:1-20
In this sermon we explored incarnation and mercy and the innocence of a baby in a violent world. Yes, there was a reference to Baby Yoda, which was timely then. You'll just have to take my word for it.
Third Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 11:2-11
John the Baptist asks some serious questions of Jesus, and we can learn from his questions and the answers he receives.
Second Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year C
Romans 15:4-13
I'm finally getting around to posting a couple of months' worth of sermons, so I don't remember what this one was about. Was it really about Romans 15? You tell me!
First Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year A
Matthew 24:36-44
Our guest preacher today is Deanna Bassett, candidate for ordination in the ELCA and recent graduate of Luther Seminary.
Reign of Christ Sunday, Lectionary Year C
Luke 23:33-43
Jesus is not the king people were expecting.
23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year C
Luke 21:5-19
In today's Gospel lesson Jesus says even the Temple will not stand. But even then you will have the opportunity to testify.
23rd Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year C
Luke 20:27-38
Jesus doesn't have time for your cleverness, because he's busy with the real lives of actual people.
All Saints Sunday, Lectionary Year C
Luke 6:20-31
Expectations shape our experience of reality. What do we expect from God? What does God do when our expectations are broken?
Reformation Sunday
John 8:31-36
This sermon got reformed pretty late in the game, so we talked about what Jesus means when he talks about freedom.
Reformation Sunday
John 8:31-36
This sermon got reformed pretty late in the game, so we talked about what Jesus means when he talks about freedom.