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Toys Help Preach Lent
Jonathan Acuff is right:
For those of us that have been to a Christian conference, retreat or youth camp in the last decade, we know the power of the Tangible Sermon Reminder…
As Christians, we don’t remember any of the sermons we’ve heard in the last ten years but I ALWAYS remember the TSRs.
Christians love tangible sermon reminders. I posted one we did for Ash Wednesday recently, and some people are still carrying it around.
So I wanted to tell you about this idea that Pr. Dennis Heaney of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Somonauk, IL put together for his midweek Lenten sermon series on Luther’s Small Catechism. He divided it up into five parts:
Four 2009 Sermons Available for Listening
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to preach more extemporaneously, so I haven’t had sermon manuscripts to post here on the site. Nevertheless, sermons are being prepared and preached! St. John’s has been recording many of its services, and I’ve begun to extract the sermon audio from these recordings. Here are the “back issues” of sermon audio from the past several months.
A Sobering Experience
Occasion: Third Sunday of Advent
Text: Luke 3.7-18
This sermon was prepared for Wednesday evening worship at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Sterling, IL on 9 December, 2009.
The Axe at the Root of the Tree
Have you ever had a sobering experience? Here’s mine: I was driving from Kirksville, MO one night on the way to a Lutheran church camp in the south-central part of the state. We were going down there to do some service work and have a good time. It was dark, and I was driving faster than I should have been. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I got the immediate, pressing demand that I stop the car – right in the middle of that two-lane county road. Without thinking, I slammed on the brakes, and as we crested the hill, we came face to face with a six-point buck staring back into our headlights. I couldn’t have seen it coming, and another second’s delay would have spelled disaster.
Needless to say, after that I slowed down and took my time getting the rest of the way to camp that night.
Jesus is Going to Crash Your Party
Occasion: Second Sunday of Advent
Text: Luke 3.1-6, Malachi 3.1-4
This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on December 2 and 6. The Gospel reading preceding this sermon was this video.
Siberian icon of John the Baptist
As we get started reading this passage from the Gospel according to Luke, we can see that we’re getting set up for something big.
- “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius…” Wow, that’s the Roman emporer!
- “when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea,” I know that guy, he’s famous!
- “Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene,” Other kings, other kingdoms. This is getting impressive.
Into the midst of these great kings, something big is about to happen. Then it goes on:
- “during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas,” Alright, something’s going to happen to Israel. The big shots at the top of the hierarchy are involved, this is going to be huge!
- “the word of God came to John son of Zechariah” Zechariah was a priest – his son must be something great, too!
- “in the wilderness.” Wait… what?
Why would he do that? And then we find out in other places in the Gospels that this guy lives outdoors, eats bugs and honey, and wears camel hair. Huh?
You see how St. Luke does that? It starts out with this monumental proclamation. We’re being set up for something big. And then at the end, we find that we’ve just been set up. We get closer and closer to the seat of power, Jerusalem, and then we abruptly veer away. What on earth is John the Baptist doing in the wilderness? Let me try to put the weirdness of this into perspective.
Trust and Priorities
Occasion: Thanksgiving Eve, Year B
Text: Matthew 6:25-33
This sermon was prepared for the joint Thanksgiving Eve service between St. John’s and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL, and Immanuel Lutheran Church, Rock Falls, IL.
This evening, as we consider Jesus’ words in the Gospel, I think we’ve got a long way to go. “Do not worry about your life?” Maybe he didn’t get the memo. We’re in the biggest economic disaster since the Great Depression. If ever there was a time to worry about our lives, this would be one. Let’s see here: the economy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, nuclear proliferation, Iran, domestic terrorism, Islamic terrorism, the health care debate, unemployment over 10% nationwide but closer to 16% in parts of this area… and that’s just the short list. We haven’t even started talking about how stressful Thanksgiving can be! Got to get the bird cooked, the table set, and make sure that everyone gets along. Lord Jesus preserve us from talking about politics or religion at the dinner table, right? It’s easy to believe that Jesus had no idea what we’re facing. Jesus, how can you tell us not to worry? You must not have seen this coming.
Keep reading…
Who Is Your King?
Occasion: Feast of Christ the King, Year B
Text: John 18:33-37
This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on November 18 and 22.
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not from here.”
“For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Christos Pantokratoros (Christ the Sovreign-King)
Pontius Pilate can’t believe his eyes. On one side of his fortress walls, a mob is calling for the death of Jesus. They say that he has claimed to be the revolutionary “king of the Jews.” But here, inside, the man he sees doesn’t fit the bill. When he thinks of a king, he thinks of someone like himself – military leader, judge, lawgiver. But here stands no military leader, he is not armed, and he doesn’t have the look of a soldier. On top of that, judges and lawgivers are known for their words – they would not stand passively in silence.
Keep reading…
Impermanence
Occasion: Pentecost 24, Year B
Text: Mark 13:1-8, Daniel 12:1-3, Hebrews 10.11-18
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on November 11 and 15.
Beginning in 1831, a baptist preacher in New England named William Miller thought that he had, by working out dates in the Bible, discovered the true date that Jesus Christ would return to Earth in the second coming to judge the living and the dead. The date picked was sometime between March 21, 1843 and March 21, 1844. Many of his followers, called “Millerites” after their leader, sold their property to be fully prepared to embrace the second coming. They even put on white robes and climbed to the top of a mountain – I guess they wanted to be first in line. When March 21, 1844, the latest possible date came and went, he revised his views – instead, Jesus would return on April 18. When that day came and went without blessed incident, another leader in the movement predicted on the basis of a complex analysis of Holy Scripture that the true date of Jesus’ return would be October 22. You can probably guess what didn’t happen next. Keep reading…
Divine Impossibilities
Occasion: 19th Sunday after Pentecost, Year B (Proper 23)
Text: Mark 10.17-31
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on October 7 and 11 and for services at three area nursing homes.
Today we have a Gospel story that we love to explain away. No wonder – it’s very challenging. It is, after all, impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Here are some ways that people like us have tried to get around this parable:
The First and the Last
Occasion: Pentecost 16, Year B
Text: Mark 9:30-37, James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
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This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on September 16 and 20.
“What were you arguing about on the way?”
It’s a funny story this week, or at least tragically funny. The disciples are trailing behind Jesus. Jesus is talking – teaching about the kingdom of God and what it means to be a servant of everyone and why that’s so crucial to God’s kingdom. The disciples, trailing behind, aren’t paying attention. In fact, while Jesus is preaching about servanthood, they’re arguing about who’s the greatest. If it wasn’t so sad, it’d be hilarious.
The Body of Christ, Given for You
Occasion: Pentecost 11, Year B
Text: John 6.51-58
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
This sermon was prepared for services at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Sterling, IL on August 12 and 16 and for services at three local nursing homes.
Over the last few weeks, we’ve been hearing in our Gospel readings about Jesus being the “bread of life.” Last week, Jesus’ hearers were shocked because he said “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “No, Jesus, you don’t really mean that. You don’t mean that you are bread. We know you. You’re Joe and Mary Nazereth’s boy. We watched you grow up. My kids were on the same softball team as you – you’re nothing special. You delivered our kitchen table out of your Pop’s workshop a couple of years ago. So just who do you think you are?”
This week, we get an even more shocking statement: “…the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
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