Grace Lutheran La Grange (Sermons): Recent Episodes
Grace Lutheran Church of La Grange
There are some moments that happen in an instant but effect us forever. Moments where it seems like life itself is in the balance, where we aren't sure what will happen next but know that nothing will be the same after it's done. Peter has one of these moments when the chaos of the storm around him causes him to sink beneath the waves. In the midst of that chaos Jesus reaches out a hand and pulls him up. Jesus calls us to follow him. We may not be able to walk on water but Jesus reaches down to where we are, pulls us up and sends us out to rescue others. These moments in our lives may not be as dramatic as the one Peter experienced, but they change our lives and stay with us forever.
Jesus has compassion for the crowds who were hungry for healing and for food on the day he heard about the murder of his cousin John.
Dr. Kurt Hendal Preaches on July 30, 2017. Exploring the Matthean theme of "kingdom of heaven,".
This sermon focuses on Jesus' admonition for his followers to leave the "cleaning up the church rolls" to God, who alone knows which of us are "wheat" and which are "weeds."
Jesus tells a story about a sower and what happens to the seeds when they fall on different types of ground. Jesus is being followed by more and more people, so many that he has to hop into a boat to keep from being overrun by the crowd. Jesus begins this story by saying "Let anyone with ears to hear listen".
The people following Jesus around were listening, and they heard something that caused them to leave their homes and their work for the day to go and follow a strange man hoping to hear another story. They heard much more than a parable of a haphazard farmer that day. Something Jesus said spoke to them and pulled them in. What do you hear Jesus saying to you today? Let anyone with ears to hear listen!
We all have things that we are passionate about, arguments we think have to be made right now, issues that we just can't seem to drop. While there's nothing wrong with being passionate about something, but we also have to know when to take a break, when to trust that God is in control and rest. That's not always easy to do! We get caught up in the moment and want to keep going until we have righted every wrong.
The sermon will describe how God has given life since the beginning and continued to do so in Jesus, who came to give a different kind of life, the life of God, eternal life—life that can never be earned or deserved, but only accepted as a gift. Because of that life within us, we do what Jesus did and loved as he loved.
When people passionately disagree with one another there are only two types of peace that can exist between them. There's an uneasy sort of peace that happens when people agree not to talk about or bring up a subject. Then there's the peace that can only come when all the cards have been set out on the table, when everyone has had a chance to tell the truth and say what they need to say. One of these is much messier and more difficult than the other... Unfortunately I think I know which one Jesus wants for us in this Gospel lesson... and it starts with telling the truth.
Telling the truth can be the hardest thing in the world. It doesn't matter whether you are a four year old who just broke a vase or a 40 year old trying to make it through thanksgiving dinner without fighting over politics, each of us has those moments where we struggle to tell the truth about what we've done, what we believe or what we think.
Telling the truth can put our relationships in jeopardy, it can cut us off from those we love. It can put us at odds with powerful people and institutions, and even put our very lives in danger, but the only path to true peace goes straight through the truth and we never walk that path alone.
On the Job Training"
In the Gospel lesson this week Jesus sends his disciples out to heal and teach and drive out demons and do all sorts of other amazing things. I wonder if the disciples felt ready for this job... there aren't any verses about them studying up for it at a trade school and none of them went through the prerequisite 4 years of seminary education.
Instead Jesus sent them out with nothing more than a command and the blessing of the Holy Spirit. They weren't ready for the task ahead of them, but Jesus sent them out to learn as they go.
When God gives us a mission we are almost never prepared for what will lie ahead, but we have a God who firmly believes in on the job training. We have a God who sends us out as we are and teaches us what we need along the way, who calls us to do amazing things here and now. And it's time to step up and get to work!
"God's Love in Three Acts" I will talk about how God expressed His love through creation and His relationships with people in the old testament, through coming in human form as Jesus, and then through sending his Spirit to express His love in us and to help us express it into the world.
Jesus has been taken up into heaven and the disciples are left looking up to the sky wondering the same thing... "What do we do now?"
The disciples meet a stranger on the way to Emmaus and have the most amazing conversation along this seven mile journey. When they reach their destination and recognize the one with them as Jesus they realize that their lives were changed when they least expected it. How does God work in us in those moments when we are journeying, when our minds our occupied with another place or destination? How do you change a world that is constantly moving faster and faster? You do it "on the way".
Low Sunday... Really?" The Easter Lilies have been picked up, the brass quartet went home, the Easter Eggs have all been found. A week later Easter is definately over... or is it? The week after Easter is sometimes called "Low Sunday" referencing low attendance, but is Easter really over, is the message of Jesus' ressurection any less amazing one week later? What can we learn from Jesus' own disciples about how to celebrate the Easter message?
I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised. Allelulia!!
In the midst of Jesus' betrayal, death and resurrection Jesus shares his last meal with his disciples. Even though the meal was simple and surrounded by the powerful events of Good Friday and Easter it had a profound impact on his followers and became the central piece of Christian worship.
Jesus wept (John 11:35). Jesus was moved to tears by the sight of those who were grieving the death of Lazarus who died four days earlier. God, similarly, cries with us when we go through tragic and hard times. Jesus showed his compassion and power by commanding Lazarus back to life.
Jesus' love for each one of us is just as powerful and real. He promises us life now and beyond death, and invites us to trust in him even when the circumstances we are going through seem impossible to overcome. "Trust me", he says. Live your life now trusting that all forms of death will not have power over you.
Similarly, Jesus sends us out to give life to others. Family members, neighbors, colleagues at work, and friends are waiting for our compassionate action in their lives.
Questions: What would happen if you really believed that your actions, even the littlest, would make a difference in someone's life? What would happen if a thousand, or a million of us worked together to give life to others and make the world a better place? That's what we are trying to do at and through Grace
John 9:1-41 is full of questions. The disciples ask Jesus who sinned to cause the man to be born blind. The crowd and Pharisees have an almost endless line of questioning for the man who was healed of blindness, asking him how he was healed, who healed him, where Jesus went and even pulling the man's parents in to be questioned. None of these questions lead to any satisfying answers until Jesus meets the blind man again and asks a new question: "Do you believe in the Son of Man?".
There are many questions constantly being asked in our world: "How do we stay safe?" "Who should I vote for" "Who should I be afraid of", but God gives us different questions to ask: "How do we care for each other?" "What is God calling me to do?" "Who is my neighbor?" Jesus shows us time and time again that we have a God who doesn't give answers, but teaches us to ask different questions. What Questions would Jesus ask today?
Among the myriads of voices that command our attention and ask us to listen to them, God wants us to listen to Jesus. That's how we get to know God's will for us and humanity, by listening to Jesus and following the path he leads us on. That's how our purpose in life is clarified. We need Jesus. ption here.
We find our purpose in life when we realize that someone called us to follow him, and that someone is Jesus. To Peter, Andrew, James and John, he said: "Follow me and I will make you fish for people." Jesus was concerned about people.
Jesus does not wait for us to apply for a position in his kingdom. In our baptism, he takes the initiative to call each one of us to follow him and sends us out to use what we already know, and what we are gifted in, for the healing of the world.
We follow Jesus through our faithfulness in our daily vocations, in whatever we do, from custodial work to brain surgery and everything in between.
In our baptism, we promise to work for peace and justice in the world, for the healing of the world.
If this doesn't give us purpose in life, what would?
God reveals his love through Christ and continues to reveal God's love through his followers.
"Wonder" There's nothing quite like looking up at a sky full of stars on a clear dark night far from the city. At this time of year I like to imagine the wisemen who spending their lives studying the night sky and suddenly realizing that something big is happening. When they realize that God is doing something new they set off to find out what it is. The wise men probably expected to find a royal child adorned in all sorts of luxury but instead found Jesus, surrounded by animals born to an unwed mother. It was certainly not what they expected, but they bowed down anyway, gave their gifts and left... still wondering what God is up to. God is still doing unexpected things and still giving us reasons to look around and wonder.
In a world that seems intent on moving faster and faster pushing us to the limits of exhaustion and anxiety God calls us to stop and reflect. This time for reflection gives us a chance to see what God has done, and a chance to see what God is doing all around us. God is at work here and now, but sometimes it is only in the stillness and silence that we can begin to see it.
Tucked into verse 3 of the familiar song "Away in a Manger" is a beautiful prayer. "Be near me, Lord Jesus; I ask you to stay close by me forever and love me, I pray. Bless all the dear children in your tender care and fit us for heaven, to live with you there."
Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Service - message given by Pastor Ben Sloss, Grace Lutheran Church
16th Sunday after Pentecost, sermon preached by Minister of Caring, Dr. Leland Albright
15th Sunday after Pentecost; A conversational sermon with Senior Pastor Saïd Ailabouni and Bishop Munib Younan, President of the Lutheran World Federation and the Palestinian Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land.