Palm Sunday – Matthew 27:11-54 Today we begin our observance of Holy Week, and we begin our recollection of all the things that transpired during the last week of our Lord’s earthly life. One of those pivotal events – as today’s reading from St. Matthew recounts it – was Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate. In…
Matthew 27:11-66 A friend of mine who is a retired Lutheran pastor once told a story about a conversation he had many years ago with his college roommate, who was not a Christian. In casual conversation, the roommate said, “I’ll be damned.” And my friend then said, “Yes, you probably will be.” The roommate got…
Lent 4 – Mark 6:32-44 Please listen with me to a reading from the sixth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark, beginning at the 32nd verse. This is a parallel text to today’s appointed Gospel from St. John. And [Jesus and his disciples] went away in the boat to a desolate place by…
Video has no sound 📢 Romans 5:1-11 We’re all probably familiar with the well-known Groucho Marx gag, where Groucho is a doctor, and a patient comes to him and says, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” The doctor replies, “Then don’t do that.” This is funny as slapstick humor. But we wouldn’t think that…
Genesis 3:1-21 “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, ‘Where are you?’” Through the Prophet Isaiah, as God there addresses Israel and the human race, he describes himself in this way: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are…
Job 4:14-20 A well-known African-American spiritual includes these poignant words: Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nailed him to the tree? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they laid him in the…
1 Samuel 16:1-13 Today’s lesson from the First Book of Samuel includes this very significant statement: “For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Samuel had been told by God that he had chosen one of the sons of Jesse…
Luke 8:26-37 Then [Jesus and his disciples] sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among…
NOTE: Due to technical difficulties the video portion begins mid-way through the sermon. 2 Peter 1:16-21 The Transfiguration of our Lord was an event in the earthly life of Jesus unlike anything else that had ever happened to him. In more veiled ways, Jesus had, of course, often given evidence of his divine power, by doing extraordinary…
Luke 2:40-52 In this world, there may not be too many people you can really trust and count on. Usually, however, we do assume that at the very least, we should be able to rely on our closest relatives: parents, children, siblings, and spouses. They won’t let us down. They won’t turn on us. But you…