Audio recording Sermon manuscript: On my day off last week I was at my dad’s farm near AlbertLea. I was there to help with the harvest, but in a different way. My sisterand her family were visiting from Florida. She has a son in the sixth grade wholoves running machinery. So my help was not so much me doing stuff. I was more ridingalong, supervisin…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus’s commands can seem unreasonable and unrealistic. Letme give you an example. In Luke chapter 6 Jesus commands that we give to thosewho ask of us, and if our goods should be taken away that we should not demandthem back. Upon hearing that we are to give to anyone who asks, and that weshould not demand back wh…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “If anyone would befirst, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Being recognized is a deep human need. Being recognized iswhen a person is accepted and appreciated for who they are. People can berecognized for all kinds of different things: “You are talented.” “You are hardworking.” “You are funn…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: If you can imagine what it would be like to be deaf andunable to speak, then you might understand why Jesus said “Ephphatha,” which means “beopened” in our Gospel reading. Deafness and muteness close a person inon himself. It is difficult to take in the thoughts of others because youcannot hear them speaking. It i…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Let’s begin by defining a couple words: defilement andsanctification. These words are opposites. Defilement is when someone is madeunclean and unholy. Sanctification is when someone is made holy. Whether we aredefiled or sanctified is of utmost importance for how God regards us. If we aredefiled, then we are unacc…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “Blessed are those whohunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Our Gospel reading today is the middle of a conversationthat turned into something like an argument. The conversation is between Jesusand some Jews who were seeking him. The reason why they were seeking him wasbecause…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: About a month ago we heard a reading that was similar to ourGospel reading today. In that reading Jesus and the disciples embarked in aboat to cross the Sea of Galilee. All of a sudden a great windstorm arose sothat water was filling the boat. The disciples ran back to Jesus, who wassleeping in the stern, and said…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Be faithful unto death and you willreceive the crown of everlasting life. At the end of last week’s Gospel reading Jesus sent out the12 apostles. They went out and did what Jesus told them to do. They proclaimedthat people should repent. They cast out demons and anointed people who weresick with oil and healed the…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; justbelieve.” A person might feel jealous hearing our Gospel readingtoday. There was a lot of healing. Jesus was told about Jairus’s little girlwho was extremely sick. While he was on his way to heal her, a woman who had aflow of blood was healed. By the time that Jesus got to the hou…

Audio recording Sermon manuscript: “When I am weak, then I am strong.” “Don’t you care that we are dying?”That’s what the disciples said. The wind was too strong. The waves were toohigh. Some of them were probably trying to use anything they could find to bailout the boat. They were fighting for their lives. What was Jesus doing? Sleeping.Didn’t he…

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…