Category: Sermons
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The Second Sunday in Lent
March 1, 2026 When we lived in Northern California there was a church located practically in our backyard. It wasn’t the congregation I served but one I walked by every day with our dog. For the longest time there was a banner on the outside of the building that advertised a series for adults with…
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The First Sunday in Lent
January 26th, 2026 No sooner is Jesus baptized than he finds himself in the wilderness. The same Spirit that anointed him at his baptism sends him into the wilderness where for forty days Jesus fasts and contends with the devil. The evil one. Jesus goes from baptism by water to baptism by fire. Fresh from…
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The Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 25, 2026 A couple of weeks ago Emily came to the saving waters of baptism. There she was washed in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There she received the laying on of hands and the prayer for the Spirit to fill her life and there she was anointed with the…
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The Baptism of our Lord
January 11, 2026 John was surprised when Jesus showed up for baptism at the River Jordan. John was baptizing people so that they would amend their lives to prepare for the coming of Jesus. Why would Jesus himself be baptized? With great exasperation John said to Jesus, “I should be baptized by you, not you…
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The Nativity of our Lord
December 25, 2025 The scriptures for this Christmas Day make remarkable claims about Jesus: These descriptions of Jesus are of Christ highly exalted – Lord of lords, King of kings, Lord of the church, Ruler of all. The proclamation of Christmas is that a tiny, vulnerable infant is all of these things. The exalted one…
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Christmas Eve
December 24, 2025 Have you ever noticed how some of our most beloved Christmas carols sing of Christmas in the present tense? Our early Christian forebears used a Latin term to describe the mystery of Jesus’ birth among us. The term is Hodie which means “today” or “now” or “nowadays.” Our ancient forebears who sang…
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The First Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2025 When I was a kid, I recall a reader board standing outside a local business that proclaimed various messages throughout the year. The message throughout December was the same but each day it changed a little bit. It read “24 shopping days until Christmas.” The next day it said “23 shopping days…
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Christ the King Sunday
November 23, 2025 The inscription above the cross on which Jesus died read: “This is the King of the Jews!” It was a placed above the cross to mock Jesus and those who followed him. It was as if the religious and political leaders along with those from the crowd who demanded Jesus’ crucifixion along…
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All Saints Sunday
November 2, 2025 From this vantage point (pulpit) I have a great view of the icons on the wall beneath the choir loft. At the center of the icons Christ is enthroned. On either side of Christ you’ll find Mary, with the child Jesus; the great prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah; the archangels Michael and Gabriel;…
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Reformation Sunday
October 26, 2025 In the summer of 2017, my wife Britt and I joined a group from the church for a visit to Germany. It was a tour celebrating the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation. We spent a good chunk of time in the town of Wittenberg where Martin Luther lived and labored most of…