Due to a technical issue, a video recording of this sermon is unavailable. Quinquagesima – Luke 6:27-31 In today’s lesson from his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul tells us that “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely,…
Sexagesima – Isaiah 55:10-13 “The pen is mightier than the sword.” This familiar axiom reminds us that the power of words – both written and spoken – can be and is greater, and more enduring, than the power of force and violence. External threats and coercive pressure can change people’s bodily actions, and make them…
Hebrews 3:12-19 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning…
Luke 9:28-36 Please listen with me to a portion of St. Luke’s account of the transfiguration of Jesus, from chapter 9 of his Gospel, beginning in the 28th verse: “[Jesus] took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His…
Mark 4:35-41 Please listen with me to St. Mark’s version of the story that we heard in today’s Gospel from St. Matthew, in St. Mark chapter 4, beginning at the 35th verse. “On the same day, when evening had come, [Jesus] said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they…
St. Titus Titus 1:1-9 St. Titus was a companion of St. Paul and a coworker with him in the ministry of the gospel. The New Testament does not give us a lot of detail about his life, but it would seem that he was originally from Antioch, where he became a Christian within the congregation…
Philippians 4:4-7 My predecessor in office here at Bethany Lutheran Church left this comment, in response to the notification of Alberta’s passing and funeral that was posted on the congregation’s Facebook page: “Blesséd, yea BLESSÉD be her memory! … I absolutely loved every minute I ever spent with Alberta as her pastor.” That’s quite a…
John 2:1-11 It’s often the case that pretty much the only time you see certain distant relatives or old friends is at funerals and weddings. Usually, when you do have a chance to visit with these people at an event like this, you are glad that you had that chance. You both may also agree…
Matthew 3:13-17 When I was a teenager, one of my household chores was to wash the dishes every evening. One thing that became very clear to me, during these years of my juvenile dish-washing career, was that if you put dirty dishes into clean water, the water gets dirty. Depending on how encrusted…
Shirley Belair Funeral – 2 Corinthians 4:11-18 Quite a while before I moved to Minnesota, I saw a video – of a certain tongue-in-cheek, humorous character – about the Minnesota “long goodbye.” The video was ostensibly introducing people from other states – who might visit or move to Minnesota – to this aspect of Minnesota’s…