Matthew 24:36-44

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

Happy New Year everyone. Today is the first Sunday of a new church year. As we begin the church new year, we don’t make new resolutions, as many may do in January of a new year.

But here in the church what we do at the beginning of a new year is take a new look at things, take a look both back and to the future, take a look at the whole picture and ask: What is God doing? What’s it all about.

One of the things people mention, is that God has a plan, and then the question is: What’s the problem? Doesn’t God’s plan work? Did God have a plan A and that didn’t work so he had to get a plan B?

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Luke 23:33-43

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday

How does it all end? We are at of the church year. We are looking back and also forward. I remind us that “the end” has two meanings.

One meaning of “the end” is termination; it’s over. The other meaning is goal: The end, the goal, has been reached.

We ask ourselves both: It’s all done? And we ask ourselves what does it all mean and ultimately where is it all going?

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Psalm 51:10; 2 Corinthians 9:15

A Sermon for the end of the Season of Pentecost

We are in the final phase of the church year, harvest season, when we celebrate the bringing in of the crops and giving thanks for the bounty of the earth.

There are glorious hymns for this season: “Praise and Thanksgiving,” “Come, You Thankful People, Come,” ‘

Now Thank We All our God,” and many more which direct our hearts and minds to giving thanks.

Which raises the question for today: How can we produce a thankful heart?

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Luke 19:1-10

A Sermon for the end of the Pentecost Season

Last weekend the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series. Two great teams, extra innings. It was quite a game.

Leading up to Game 7, there was some talk about good luck charms and rituals that various players on both teams had.

For example, the Dodger’s Japanese pitcher, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, has an interpreter with an unusual good luck charm. Keep in mind, we’re talking about the pitcher’s interpreter, not the pitcher himself. On the days when Yamamoto pitches for the Dodgers, his interpreter always wears special boxers featuring a rabbit shooting lasers from his eyes.

A lot of sports figures have good luck charms.

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A Sermon for All Saints Sunday

Today is another festival Sunday – All Saints Day.

In the 2006 hymnal from Augsburg Publishing, Evangelical Lutheran Worship, at the front of the book, there is a list of saints and others to be remembered. For example, they have a special day (July 27) for Mary Magdalene and call her “an apostle.” The word “apostle” really means missionary. Does that title really apply to Mary Magdalene? If one is going to do that one should go to the 16th chapter of the Book of Romans where there is a woman named Junias. She was an apostle, a missionary in the normal sense of the term.

In that list of saints and others to be remembered, they don’t use the word, “saint.” The real reason for leaving out the term “saint” is like the trend of not giving grades so everyone is equal.

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