Sermons and Messages from Pastor Kal: Recent Episodes
Pastor Kal Rissman
The crowds following Jesus on Palm Sunday were looking for either the "Bread King" that would supply all their bodily needs or the Revolutionary King that would kick out the Roman Empire. They got instead, the Servant King. Do we follow the Servant King with a servant's heart or are we looking for something else?
God tell the wayward children of Israel that since they have repented He will forgive and restore them to Israel from Babylon. He includes on of the great statements of grace, saying, "For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more." We remember that forgiveness so that we can then give that to others.
There are too many time that we blame God when things go wrong in our lives. If we are honest, most of our troubles are of our own making, but it is easier to blame others, especially God. Verse 16 test us that God SO loves the world. He does not want any to perish, but loves the whole world and everybody in it.
"Steaming Mad" - March 7, 2021 - Anger is an appropriate emotion in certain situations. In today's Gospel lesson, Jesus is beyond irritated - he has righteous wrath over the temple practices that he views as big business and corrupt big business at that. He mad a whip of cords and drove the merchants and money changers out of the temple. There are times when we too should be angry over injustice irreverence.
Jesus told the disciples plainly that He was going to have to suffer and anyone who followed him would get the same and it wasn't received well by Peter and the rest of the disciples. But even though we are tempted to want the same kind of easy Christianity that the disciples wanted, we do have to sometimes take up our cross and follow Jesus. Ultimately, the very thing that looked like weakness and defeat turned out to be the method for our salvation.
This letter is written to encourage Christians who were under intense persecution. Strangely enough the church grew rapidly during this time when it cost something to be a follower of Christ. Maybe the forces of evil in America have decided to change tactics and make it easy to be a Christian here and thus, people don't take it seriously. If a thing doesn't cost you anything, it usually doesn't mean anything to you.
Jesus is transfigured before the disciples and this kind of glory was what they had always been looking for. It was a mountaintop experience for those disciples, but Jesus soon let them know that although these kinds of experiences are necessary to give us clear vision, it is not a place where we can stay. We have work to do back down in the valley where people are sick, lonely and hurting. We are to transform the world around us with the power of God's love.
Jesus shows here that there is more to healing than just physical cure. He heals Peter's mother-in-law and restores here to her place of honor in the household. Many times today people pray for healing, but all they really are looking for is physical cure and hot healing emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Jesus kept Himself well by constant communication with His Heavenly Father.
In the early church there was a controversy over eating meat that had been offered to idols. Paul cautions the folks at Corinth that just because they had knowledge that these false gods weren't real and didn't make any difference, that doesn't mean that they should disregard the conscience qualms of some of their new members. Being right is not the same as being loving. Freedom of the Gospel always implies responsibility as well. Paul concludes that knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.
"You Have To See This!" - January 17, 2021 Jesus begins calling his disciples in this text. Phillip was so excited from spending time with Jesus that he told his friend, Nathaniel about it. Nathaniel was skeptical, but Phillip didn't try to convince him or sell him on the idea. He simply said, "Come and see." This is the same simple message that we all have for people who have not yet come to know Jesus - "Come and see!" We can invite people to come and see what has made a difference in our lives and what could make a difference in theirs too.
John is uncomfortable with Jesus' request to be baptized by him, because he didn't think that respects the hierarchy. Jesus insists on baptism for several good reasons: God commanded it, it makes us adopted children of God with Jesus and our brother and it shows that Jesus identifies with us in every way. Baptism is being branded as one of God's own. It is a washing clean from all sin and a promise God will always be with us.
John the baptizer was the link between the past and the future. He told folks that God was doing a new thing and they needed to be ready to see it and accept it. Likewise, today in the Christian Church in America we are in a transitional stage and need to perceive where God is breaking into our present reality.
When Mark's Gospel was written, the destruction of the temple had just happened and folks thought it was the end of the world. This text reminds us to not get too caught up in the desperate world around us, but wait on the Lord. But while we are waiting, make good use of our time by loving God and serving others.
Jesus reminds us in today's lesson that there will be a day when we stand before the Lord God and we will be judged and the sheep will be separated from the goats. The sheep will be surprised that they treated the Lord well in the person of others who are struggling and need help. The goat have been keeping score and believe they deserve the kingdom of heaven, but they don't
The parable of the talents answers the question of what should we be doing in the meantime until Christ comes again. It is clear that our calling is to spread the gospel message around wherever we can and use our talents to make that happen.
All Saints Sunday is a time to remember those saints who have died and gone before us to be with the Lord. It is an opportunity to thing back to the faithful witness of all who demonstrated their faith by the way they lived. The are living in a middle time and we won't be here long, so we need to start living in God's future in the present with unconditional love and compassion.
Today's parable is the story of the wedding feast of the King's son. Many are invited, but not everybody accepts the gracious invitation. This is God's invitation to all people. He wants the wedding hall to be full, meaning that He wants all people to celebrate with Him and affirm our allegiance to Him.
Matthew 18:15-20 Today's Gospel deals with the difficult topic of church discipline. Because the Christian Church is made up entirely of sinners, it is inevitable that we will at some time rub each other the wrong way. However, there is a Godly way to confront issues with another in order to have reconciliation.
August 30, 2020 - Matthew 16:21-28, "From Cornerstone to Tumbling Block" In the previous verses from last week, Peter makes a great statement of faith, but the verses show that he did not understand that Jesus was a suffering servant Messiah. Peter is like us in wanting the theology of glory, but Jesus give us the theology of the cross.
"Who Am I"? - August 23, 2020 Jesus asked the disciples who folks thought he was and then asked them who they thought he was. Peter makes a great statement of faith saying, "You are the Messiah, the Son of God". There is a difference between knowing about someone and knowing someone. To know Christ is to do as He did.
"Wind and Waves" - August 9, 2020 Hailed as one of Jesus' most spectacular miracles, Jesus walking on the water is not the most important thing in this story. The ongoing miracle is that Jesus continues to reach down and deliver us as he did Peter when he was sinking. Peter thought he was safe in the boat, but he was actually safest when near Jesus.
"Catering for 5,000" - August 2, 2020 - Matthew 14:13-21 The story of the feeding of 5,000 must have been a favorite in the early church, because it appears in all four Gospels, which is rare. The story shows clearly the character of the disciples, the crowd, Jesus and God the Father. If we surrender what we have the Lord can make a lot out of it.
"Never Give Up" - Romans 8: 26-39 When things are going badly, don't ever give up, because God is still with you in the valleys of life and He is still working to bring something good out of a bad situation.
Matt. 13: 24-30, 36-43 Jesus warns against being too quick to judge people, comparing them to wheat or weeds. Some folks that look like weeds may actually be wheat. We need to let God sort it out and not us.
Matt. 13: 1-9, 18-23 Jesus always made up stories to help people think about things in a new way. The story of the sower of seeds answers the question of why some people grow in faith and some do not and why we need to keep sowing the seed of God's love anyway.
Jesus felt sorry for how burdened people were by their legalistic, nitpicking religious rules. His solution was that if you are going to be yoked to something (and you are), why not let it be with someone you enjoy, who is going to do most of the pulling - like the Lord.
Matt. 11: 1-19, 25-30 (This is an alternate Gospel lesson not listed in the Celebrate inserts) "Bad Company" There are a lot of dirty jobs in this world, but at Jesus time the dirtiest was to be a tax collector. The religious leaders wondered why Jesus hung out with this kind of people, but Jesus made it clear that he came to heal those who were sick, not those who were well. Jesus did not take shape from sinners, but gave shape to them.
Politicians today are always testing the winds to see what middle America will accept, but Jesus was no politician. He had an uncompromising message that was offensive to many people, because it went against the cultural currents of the day. Is there anything offensive and radical about our brand of Christianity today or are we just blending in with our culture?