Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “The Pharisees went out andimmediately held counsel with the Herodians against Jesus, how to destroy him.” Perhaps you’ve noticed before that there are some people wholike laws and rules, and there are others who don’t. Those who like laws andrules usually also like organization. They like to have their things in …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord with all your graces nowoutpoured. Amen. Christians celebrate three major festivals. Christmas is thecelebration of Jesus’s birth. Easter is the celebration of Jesus’sresurrection. Today’s festival is Pentecost. It doesn’t get the hype that theother two get. Christians usually have a…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: If you could have anything you wanted, what would it be?Maybe some of you remember a commercial for the powerball lottery. In thecommercial different people catch the powerball, which had lightning comingfrom it if I remember correctly. With that powerball in hand they could pointto their regular looking house, an…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: [Jesus said,] “Whoever abides in me andI in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” There was once a man who I thought might be interested injoining the congregation. He had attended services. He had family who weremembers. So I was talking to him about how a person could join thecongregation. The first step is lear…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Talking about God can be difficult. I’ve seen how talkingabout God can cause tenseness and awkwardness. People’s defenses go up. What isthis person going to require of me? What is this person going to accuse me of? AmI supposed to be converted? People usually don’t like it. Because people don’t like it, most won’t…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “And they said nothing to anyone,for they were afraid.” Everybody inevitably learns that there are some things youcan’t change. Things have been written into our DNA, for example. One ispredisposed for this. Another is predisposed for that. It’s disappointing, butwhat can be done? There are so many things like tha…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: People want to be the greatest because being the greatest isa lot of fun. It is fun to be the best at a sport. It is fun to be the best atan activity. Jesus’s disciples, James and John, wanted to be the greatest. Thatis what they are driving at when they say to Jesus: “Letus sit in your glory. One of us can be on …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Our Gospel reading proclaims well-known and well-lovedpromises: Whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. John 3:16 isperhaps the most well-known verse in the Bible: “God soloved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes inhim should not perish but have eternal life.”These promis…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Picture in your mind’s eye the scene described in our Gospelreading. It’s Passover. Many people, like Jesus and his disciples, have come toJerusalem. It’s a busy place. The temple area has many tables and booths set up.Some were exchanging foreign money for the money that was accepted at thetemple. Others were sel…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: In our Gospel reading Peter confessed Jesus to be theChrist. This is important and life changing because it is by our confession ofJesus as the Christ that we are saved. However, as we also heard, Peter raninto some difficulty when Jesus spoke about the cross. Today we will talk aboutwhat happened with Peter and h…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today I’d like to address something that all people mustface: Temptation. Temptation is when we are lured and enticed to do somethingthat is wrong. Where does temptation come from? It doesn’t come from God. Jamessays in our reading, “God tempts no one.” Instead,as he says, temptation is when “each person is lureda…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: When Pastor Bertram and I were discussing what we might liketo accomplish with this series on marriage, sexuality, and so on, we boththought that it would be good to address what is known as LGBTQ concerns. LGBTQstands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning or queer. Advocacyfor LGBTQ rights has e…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Today we have begun a three week series on marriage,sexuality, and various issues that go along with these things. To do a serieslike this is a little unusual for us. We tend to follow the lectionary. Thelectionary is a list of readings from the Bible that have been assigned foreach Sunday in the Church Calendar. …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Our Gospel reading this morning tells the story of whathappened not long after Jesus’s birth. The Law of God, given to the OldTestament people, required that eight days after Jesus’s birth he needed to becircumcised. Then, forty days after Mary gave birth, she needed to offersacrifices. This marked the end of her …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: He rules the world with truth and grace. That line comes from the well-known and well-loved Christmashymn, “Joy to the world.” “He rules the world with truth and grace.” Who rulesthe world? Jesus rules the world. Jesus being the king who reigns and rules is a theme that isfound in a lot of Christmas hymns. I’ll gi…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: I’d like to begin tonight by orienting ourselves. Last weekwe heard the first two chapters of the book of Ruth. The two most importantpeople in this book are Naomi and Ruth. Naomi used to live near Bethlehem withher husband and two sons, but they needed to leave when a famine came on theland. They had to move to M…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The book of Ruth is about poor people. Being poor can leadto desperate actions. The book begins with a desperate action. A poor family leavestheir homeland when they can no longer make ends meet. A famine struck theland. Naomi and her husband Elimelech have to leave their land behind in searchof better conditions.…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: One of the unusual features of the times we are living in ishow many different beliefs there are. Perhaps you had a taste of that at yourThanksgiving gathering. Your cousins, nieces, nephews, in-laws might have verydifferent understandings about what is right and wrong, the present state ofthings in the world, or …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: The steadfast love of the Lord neverceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. Great isyour faithfulness. Our country has been celebrating the National Day ofThanksgiving since 1863. In October of 1863 President Lincoln called upon thenation to consider its good fortune. It had been bles…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: What are you looking forward to? Is there a family gatheringcoming up? Christmas is around the corner. What gifts would you like to receive?Retirement? Weddings? Children or grandchildren? There are a lot of things tolook forward to. What about Jesus Christ’s second coming in power and greatglory? Is that on your …

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Jesus said to the Jews who hadbelieved in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and youwill know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Today we commemorate the Reformation. One of the greatestconsequences of the Reformation was that western Christendom was divided. Priorto the Reforma…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: For better understanding what is going on in our Gospelreading, it is helpful to know the context. Our reading today is during HolyWeek. Jesus entered Jerusalem a couple days before on Palm Sunday. The peoplehailed him as king. He then went to the Temple, clearing out the moneychangers, flipping over tables and su…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “Repent, for the kingdom of God isat hand!” In our Gospel reading the chief priest and elders are upsetabout Jesus. The chief priests and elders had never liked Jesus. Jesus wasn’t apart of their club. He wasn’t from Jerusalem. He didn’t go to the rightschools. He wasn’t from the right families. What’s more is tha…

Audio recording Sermon text: Forgiveness can be difficult. It can be complicated. If Iaccidentally bump into you as we are passing by each other, that’s not hard toforgive. Not all forgiveness is like that. In fact, I don’t know if that reallyis forgiveness. It’s more like politeness. Forgiveness is more serious. Being polite is easier than forgivi…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “The first shall belast, and the last shall be first.” Let me begin by running a couple ideas by you. How aboutthis idea for a marriage: Husband and wife get married. Like most marriedcouples they thought it was going to be great. They had visions and plans intheir heads. Not long after they tie the kn…