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John 6:51-58

A Sermon for the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

What is real? And what is really real? That’s what we’re about. What is really, really, really, really, really real? What is really real is that Jesus Christ truly is who we say he is. That is not just a nice idea, or a handy idea. What is it that we say?

We confess that the eternal God, Lord, Lord of lords, Creator, Father of all, became this human being, born about 4 B.C., who had a true mother, and who walked on earth and died. Truly human. Not walking two inches off the earth. Truly human. Of course, truly God as well. And as it says at the Council of Chalcedon (451), “unmixed and undivided,” and stop there! Don’t try to sort that out. That is the basis of what we confess, and when we confess that, we say: That’s the reality, that is the reality behind everything and determines what everything is about.

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John 6:41-51

A Sermon for the Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

The last verse from the text for today, John 6:51says: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
That’s dynamite. That changes everything. He is the living bread, and that gives us life.
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A Sermon for the Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

Many people think that going to church is like going to the dentist. It’s one of those things you should do, but don’t necessarily want to do.

But there’s a big difference between the two. Some parents say to their children: “You are to go to church with us as long as you live in our house. When you’re on your own, you can decide what to do.” But you would never say that about your teeth.

Another way that people think of church is like a social group one enjoys but, in a take-it-or-leave-it sort of way.Select here to read more or here for a pdf document.

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Ephesians 3:14-21

A Sermon for the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Every Sunday in the Prayer of the Day, we pray for all those who have a particular sorrow, need, or difficulty. Sometimes that that goes by us as kind of a general statement without thinking that there are particular sorrows, needs, or difficulties. They are among us and also in our own hearts and lives. It sometimes important to try to be specific about that because we struggle ourselves, and sometimes are asked by others. Someone will come to you and say: “I’m 93 years old, and what’s the point of it? I’m sitting here. It hurts to move. I have nothing worthwhile to do, and I’m no good to others. Why is God doing this?”

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Ephesians 2:11-22

A Sermon for the Nineth Sunday after Pentecost

Many years ago, in the weeks after a baby was born, people would ask: “Has the child been done?” By which they meant: “Has the baby been baptized?”

That question, “Has the baby been done?” strikes us as old-fashioned, but it’s right about the main thing. There are three basics to the main thing.
The first of the basics is: What has God done? What God has done is summarized in the Apostles’ Creed or more usefully in the Nicene Creed, which is the far more universal creed among Christians.
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