Archive for June, 2009

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 9B (7/5/2009)

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

First Words / Last Words

Lessons:
    Ezekiel 2:1-5
    Psalm 123
    2 Corinthians 12:2-10
    St. Mark 6:1-13
    Semicontinuous Series:
        2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10
        Psalm 48

Prayer of the Day:
    God of the covenant, in our baptism you call us to proclaim the coming of your kingdom. Give us the courage you gave the apostles, that we may faithfully witness to your love and peace in every circumstance of life, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

6:1He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands!3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.4Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.”5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them.6And he was amazed at their unbelief.
Then he went about among the villages teaching.7He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.8He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts;9but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics.10He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place.11If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”12So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent.13They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

St. Mark 6:1-13 New Revised Version Bible (C)1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

This week’s Gospel lesson always reminds me of the first time I returned to preach at my home congregation. I grew up in a river valley town, literally built on the side of the bluff that rises up above the west shore of the St. Croix River, on the eastern edge of Minnesota. My home church is built near that bluff. I was excited about the opportunity to preach my first sermon there… that is until I studied the text for the day and found that it was this same story about Jesus being rejected by his people when he returned home to minister to them. (Only it was St. Luke’s version of the story, which ended when the townspeople spirited him out of the synagogue and tried to throw him over a cliff.) As you probably can guess, my enthusiasm for the task waned a bit as I imagined the congregation re­spond­ing to my sermon by tossing me over the cliff.

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Fourth Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 8B (6/28/2009)

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009

 This Generous Undertaking

Lessons:
    Lamentations 3:22-33 or Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
    Psalm 30
    2 Corinthians 8:7-15
    St. Mark 5:21-43
    Semicontinuous Series:
        2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27
        Psalm 130

Prayer of the Day:
    Almighty and merciful God, we implore you to hear the prayers of your people. Be our strong defense against all harm and danger, that we may live and grow in faith and hope, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

8:7Now as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in utmost eagerness, and in our love for you-so we want you to excel also in this generous undertaking.

8I do not say this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love against the earnestness of others.9For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.10And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something-11now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means.12For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has-not according to what one does not have.13I do not mean that there should be relief for others and pressure on you, but it is a question of a fair balance between14your present abundance and their need, so that their abundance may be for your need, in order that there may be a fair balance.15As it is written,

“The one who had much did not have too much,
and the one who had little did not have too little.” 

2 Corinthians 8:7-15 New Revised Version Bible (C)1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

The Apostle Paul was one of the great church leaders in the first century. Converted to faith as a young man by a personal experience with Jesus Christ. Mentored in the faith by a group of deeply committed believers. The first traveling evangelist: responsible for the formation of dozens of churches throughout his travels. One of the first great theologians, whose writings continue to shape beliefs some two thousand years later. A strong pastoral leader. And in today’s passage: a passionate advocate of faithful financial stewardship.

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Third Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 7B (6/21/2009)

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Who then is this, that even
the wind and the sea obey him?

Lessons:
    Job 38:1-11
    Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
    2 Corinthians 6:1-13
    St. Mark 4:35-41
    Semicontinuous Series:
        1 Samuel 17:[1a, 4-11, 19-23] 32-49
        Psalm 9:9-20

Prayer of the Day:
    O God of creation, eternal majesty, you preside over land and sea, sunshine and storm. By your strength pilot us, by your power preserve us, by your wisdom instruct us, and by your hand protect us, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

4:35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” 

St. Mark 4:35-41 New Revised Version Bible (C)1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

You have certainly heard the story of Job. It’s a very familiar story. He is a wealthy man, with ten children, 7,000 sheep, 3000 camels, 500 oxen and 500 donkeys. Most of all, he is a faithful man. He loves God. Yet through a troubling series of circumstances, God allows Job to be tested. Calamity after calamity strikes. Job loses everything: his children, his animals and his servants. Finally, he loses his health.

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Second Sunday after Pentecost — Proper 6B (6/14/2009)

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Scattering Seed Faithfully

Lessons:
    Ezekiel 17:22-24
    Psalm 92:1-4, 12-15
    2 Corinthians 5:6-10 [11-13] 14-17
    St. Mark 4:26-34
    Semicontinuous Series:
        1 Samuel 15:34 – 16:13
         Psalm 20

Prayer of the Day
   O God, you are the tree of life, offering shelter to all the world. Graft us into yourself and nurture our growth, that we may bear your truth and love to those in need, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

4:26 [Jesus] also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”
30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”
33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.

St. Mark 4:26-34 New Revised Version Bible (C)1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

In his book “Spicing Up Your Speaking,” Simon Coupland tells the story of Milton Cunningham. Cunningham and his wife, Barbara, were Baptist missionaries to Rhodesia and Zambia from 1957 to 1967, and he later served as a mass media consultant for the Baptist Foreign Mission Board in Africa. He was organizer and chairman of the board of trustees of Lusaka International School in Zambia. He had just settled in for a flight from Atlanta to Dallas when a little girl took the seat next to his. She turned to Milton, and in all her innocence, said, “Mister, did you brush your teeth this morning?” With a smile, Milton said, “Yes, I brushed my teeth this morning.” She said, “Good, ’cause that’s what you’re supposed to do.” Her next question was, “Mister, do you smoke?” Milton assured her that he didn’t, and she responded, “Good, ’cause smoking can make you dead.” Her third question was even easier to answer, “Mister, do you love Jesus?” He answered with confidence, “Yes, I love Jesus,” and she said, “Good, ’cause we’re all supposed to love Jesus.”

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Time after Pentecost Sermons (2009)

Sunday, June 7th, 2009

Date: November 22, 2009
Liturgical Day: Christ the King Sunday
Sermon Title: Justice, Kindness, Humility

Summary:
Micah understood that God doesn’t want the religious behaviors of people — God wants transformed hearts. That is why he challenged the people of his day to see that following prescribed religious rituals wasn’t how a believer approached God. We find ourselves in the presence of God when our hearts are transformed, and when justice, kindness and humility characterize our days.

Download Sermon: 2009 Bible in 90 Days 11

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Date: November 15, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Twenty-fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Word of the Prophet

Summary:
Ezekiel was a prophet sent from God: called to speak the hard word to God’s people, and instructing them to repent. It wasn’t easy to hear Ezekiel’s critical words and trust that they were from God. It’s no easier now. We need to act and believe with courage and with humility, always aware that the voice calling us to change just might be the voice of God.

Download Sermon: 2009 Bible in 90 Days 10

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Date: November 8, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: A Feast of Rich Food

Summary:
Isaiah describes a heavenly banquet: a feast of rich food and well-aged wines, as he gives Ancient Israel an image of hope that God will one day restore them in the land that was promised to their ancestor Abraham. Today, God meets us in the feast: as we come to the table and receive Christ, we feast on the grace of God, and are reminded of how much there is that makes us thankful to God.

Download Sermon: 2009 Bible in 90 Days 09

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Date: November 1, 2009
Liturgical Day: All Saints Day
Sermon Title: An Attitude of Gratitude

Summary:
All Saints Day is an occasion for gratitude. Psalm 104 calls us to be grateful to the God who provides all that we need. This festival calls us to be grateful for those Saints who have touched our lives and shaped our faith. At Saint Peter, our annual stewardship appeal is always a call to show our gratitude to God by supporting the ministries of our congregation.

Download Sermon: 2009 Bible in 90 Days 08

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Date: October 25, 2009
Liturgical Day: Reformation Sunday
Sermon Title: The Voice of God

Summary:
Job and Luther were both men whose lives were turned in a new direction by the voice of God. How do we hear God’s voice today? Faithfulness, and honoring our Reformation heritage, both call for being open to those times when God’s voice might redirect our lives.

Download Sermon: 2009 The Bible in 90 Days 07

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Date: October 18, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Heart of Restoration

Summary:
Nehemiah makes an address to the people of Israel that includes these themes: an awareness of the awesome love of God, a determination to view himself with sincere humility, true repentance, and the gift of renewal and new life that only comes from God. His hope was that those themes would shape the people of Israel in his day. Perhaps they could shape us today as well.

Download Sermon:  2009 The Bible in 90 Days 06

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Date: October 11, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Wisdom of Solomon

Summary:
King Solomon is acknowledged as the wisest king ever to rule over Israel. But the Bible presents a different kind of wisdom than our world embraces. This “unconventional wisdom” of God allows us to experience the sacred nature of life that most in this world never even imagine.

Download Sermon:  2009 The Bible in 90 Days 05

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Date: October 4, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: As for Me and My House

Summary:
Joshua, who led God’s people across the Jordan River and into the Promised Land some 1,400 years before Jesus was born, demonstrates what a strong evangelical witness looks like: know what God has done for you; commit to serving God with all of you heart and soul and might; and share with others why faith is meaningful to you. Would that we might learn from him!

Download Sermon:  2009 Bible in 90 Days 04

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Date: September 20 2009
Liturgical Day: The Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: Trust in God Alone

Summary:
The people of Ancient Israel wandered the desert for 40 years, making their way from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. Along the way, God taught them how to trust. In this week’s lesson, we also are admonished to trust God above all else.

Download Sermon:  2009 Bible in 90 Days 02

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Date: September 13 2009
Liturgical Day: The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Power of God’s Word

Summary:
This morning 75 members and friends of Saint Peter are embarking on a 90 day attempt to read the Bible from cover to cover. In this sermon, Pastor Dave encourages them to be open to the power of God’s word, and to the possibility that this could be a life-changing experience.

Download Sermon:  2009 The Bible in 90 Days 01

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Date: August 30 2009
Liturgical Day: The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: Welcomed and Sent

Summary:
Saint Peter Lutheran Church has a new mission statement (one that can be “repeated at gunpoint”): Welcomed and Sent. We are welcomed into God’s love, just as we are. We are sent into God’s world to be a reflection of Christ’s love. How will this mission statement shape our ministries at Saint Peter? How will this mission statement shape our own personal faith lives? God willing, it will help us to be ever more faithful to the one who loves us enough to die for us.

Download Sermon:  2009 Proper 17B

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Date: August 26 2009
Sermon Title: Celebrating the Life and Faith of Bertha Barker

Summary:
Bertha Barker was a relative newcomer to Saint Peter Lutheran Church — the mother of long-time member Verna Leighton, she join our church after moving from Florida a couple of years ago to be near  her daughter and son-in-law, Ron. 88 years old, Bertha was a woman of strong faith, whose role as the matriarch of the extended Barker family was instrumental in shaping her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, O Merciful Savior, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light.

Download Sermon:  Bertha Barker Memorial

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Date: July 19, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: A Prescription for Faith

Summary:
When the disciples had become unaware and uninspired, Jesus called them away to a deserted place by themselves where they could rest awhile. In the midst of our busyness, he calls us to times of Sabbath, that we too might be renewed in faith, and reconnected to God’s presence in our lives.

Download Sermon:  2009-Proper-11B

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Date: July 12, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Gift of Giving

Summary:
The summer financial slump is running deeper than usual at Saint Peter in 2009, so Pastor Dave and the Executive Team decide to stage a stewardship skit — a light hearted way of reminding supporters how important it is to be generous in their financial support of the congregation. The message is well-received, nobody feels especially beaten up, and receipts begin to pick up a bit.

Download Sermon:  2009-Proper-10B

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Date: July 5, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: The Difference Faith Makes

Summary:
The people of Capernaum trusted that God was active in Jesus, healing and teaching in their midst and great things happened. The people of Nazareth thought of him as nothing more than the boy who grew up next door, and very little happened. Will we be more like the people of Capernaum, or of Nazareth?

Download Sermon:  2009-Proper-9B

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Date: June 14, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Second Sunday after Pentecost
Sermon Title: Sowing Seeds of Faith

Summary:
Two parables of Jesus are featured in this weekend’s Gospel lesson. The seed grows secretly in the first one, and the tiny mustard seed becomes a great shrub in the second. With these parables, Jesus calls us to be bold and faithful as we sow seeds of faith in the lives of those we know.

Download Sermon:  2009-Proper-6B

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Date: June 7, 2009
Liturgical Day: The Festival of the Holy Trinity
Sermon Title: Who Is God?

Summary:
Holy Trinity — a concept created by the church long after the Bible was written — is an attempt to speak of the two truths we hold about God: that God is three, and that God is one. One is tempted, on this day, to wax eloquent about theological principles, but God is much more aptly introduced when believers tell stories.

Download Sermon:  2009-Holy-Trinity-B

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Christ-Like Love and Compassion

Monday, June 1st, 2009

June, 2009 Pastor’s Monthly Newsletter Article

This is my commandment, that you love one another
as I have loved you.
St. John 15:12

I love summertime. I’ve always loved summertime. When I was young it meant sleeping late in the mornings, playing outside all day long, and in the long, cool summer evenings of Minnesota we were allowed to run around the neighborhood until the sun went down. These days it means not having to pack school lunches every morning, not having to be to school by a certain time each day, and the freedom to get out of town for some relaxed family time. There is a freedom to the summer months. Freedom to re-invent our schedules. Freedom to discover some new ways to spend our time. Freedom to re-evaluate the priorities of our lives.

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