Luke 10:38-42; Romans 13:10; 1 Peter 2:13-17

A Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

The long season of Pentecost is a good time to consider the practical consequences of our Christian faith. How does it work? The Gospel is not just a head-trip but a message with down to earth consequences. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves, as the text last week from Luke said.

This week we have the account of Mary and Martha. It says something about priorities. It summarizes the whole of Luke 10, about the “alls”—love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself.

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A Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

We have fascinating texts today. First in Colossians 1:10 where it says: “Lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work . . . .”

Then, of course, we also have the famous parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. People misunderstand what the Good Samaritan is about. They think it’s about good works, but it’s really about the Samaritans. It’s like the story of the ten lepers in Luke 17:11-19. One came back to say “Thank you.”

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A Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Galatians 6:[1-6] 7-16; Luke 10:1-11; 16-20

How should Christians live? People want to know.

There’s a famous book called In His Steps (by Charles Sheldon, 1897) that spells out one man’s view of what walking “in his steps” means. It became an instant best-seller for years and years because people wanted to know: How are we to live? How do we follow “in his steps”?

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Galatians 5:1

A Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost

This coming Friday is the Fourth of July, the celebration of our country’s independence on July 4, 1776. The spirit of the American Revolution is captured well in the motto of New Hampshire: Live free or die.
It’s a useful coincidence that one of our texts today is about freedom, Christian freedom. It’s Galatians 5:1: “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”

What “freedom” means in each case is different, but together they provide our focus for today.

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Galatians 3:23-29

A Sermon for the Third Sunday of Pentecost

This Galatians text is a great text because of what it says about the law as our “custodian.” “. . . Before faith came, we were confined under the law . . . the law was our custodian until Christ came . . . But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian . . . .”

The word “custodian” today is commonly understood as another word for “janitor.” But, of course, that’s not the kind of custodian that Paul is talking about.

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