Ephesians 1:10; Galatians 4:4

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

Our situation as we begin a new church year is like starting a road trip toward a distant mountain range. When you begin to see the foothills and they seem to be not so far away although they are several hundred miles away, you have the sense: “We’re almost there!” But the closer you get, the more you see those foothills are pretty big, then come the mountains, only then the peaks. This is where we are in the church year, driving toward the foothills.

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Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

In the church year today is New Year’s Eve, a time for celebration. The new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year’s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come.

Along with looking back, we look forward to Advent, which tells us about God coming to help us, and then Christmas, which is pointing to Good Friday and Easter, where God solves the problem and then sends his Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us as individuals and Christians together to the end of the next year.

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Mark 13:1-8

A Sermon for the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

This thirteenth chapter of Mark is about signs of the end. Mark 13:5: “Many will come in my name and say: ‘I am he!’ And they will lead many astray.” It goes on to say that there will be famine and earthquakes and all kinds of tribulation. Finally, the end comes. What can we say to this?

To begin with, let’s look briefly at three examples of end-times thinking in our country, although this sort of thing happens many other places, too.

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Hebrews 9:24-28

A Sermon for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

We’re coming to the end of the church year and in these final Sundays, we ask the big questions of what it all means: What is salvation? Who is saved? Where does it all go?

Today we ask: Who is saved? Everyone? A few? Many? Perhaps the common view today is that everybody is going to be saved. Everybody goes to heaven. There is no judgment and nothing is really at stake in this world. While nobody is perfect, and everybody is good enough in some way to be saved. Death is simply transitioning from this world to the next. There is no judgment, nothing at stake.

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Revelation 21:1-4

A Sermon for the Season of Pentecost

We are in a festival season. Last week was the Festival of the Reformation. Today is the Festival of All Saints. In three weeks, we will celebrate Christ the King Sunday, the final Sunday of the church year.

In reflecting on this Festival of All Saints, there are three clarifications that need to be brought in front of us.
First, what does it mean to be a saint?

A church-going Lutheran asked her pastor: “How can I celebrate All Saint’s Day? I’m not a saint. I’m not a good person.”

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