Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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REFRAME: TO HOPE
What Jesus has to say in Luke today sounds a lot more like bad news than good. But in light of recent events in our world, the language spoken by Jesus in these opening verses rings true. The downing of the Russian passenger plane; deadly attacks carried out by ISIS in Paris and Beirut; heightened…
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Citizens of the Kingdom
On this occasion of two baptisms on Christ the King/Christ Reigns Sunday, this sermon talks about what it means to be a citizen of Christ’s kingdom. When the fog of history lifts and eyes once clouded by fear see clearly, these texts declare, there is but One who will remain standing, and it won’t be…
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Spirit of Promise
On this third and final stewardship Sunday the theme centers around Spirit of Promise. The texts from 1st Samuel and Mark 13 are connected through the image of pregnancy and birth pangs. In the language of the texts we ask: What is God bringing to birth here in our congregation? What is the Spirit midwifing…
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More than Enough
On this, the second week of our 3 week SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY Stewardship emphasis, the theme is SPIRIT OF GIVING. The texts of two widows living on the edge of poverty helped to reframe our lives as people who have so much. What is the basic paradigm, the primary lens, through which we live our…
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Embodying the Spirit of Love
This sermon on ALL SAINTS DAY ties into a three week theme – SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY. Week 1 is SPIRIT OF LOVE. When loving happens, community happens. Without love there can be no community. On this All Saints Sunday we’re reminded that, not only is love our origin—the source of the life we share—it is…
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Servants’ Hearts
On the occasion of dedicating quilts and school kits for Lutheran World Relief, today’s texts help us answer the question: What does it mean to have a servant’s heart? What does that look like? In today’s gospel Jesus commands to his apprentices, to not only observe him as he walks the servant path, but to…
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Enough
This story of the rich man approaching Jesus is a very contemporary story. It’s the only time in the gospels when someone is directly invited by Jesus to follow, and instead of following, he walks away. And the reason is money. We fantasize about winning the lottery. We daydream about greater wealth giving us greater…
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Where is God in All This?
” Lord, make me an instrument of your peace…” I have a feeling that when Francis first uttered that prayer, it sounded a lot rougher than it does now; that when he first prayed that prayer the words didn’t line up symmetrically, didn’t come out poetically—that he fought hard for what to say. I have…
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Letting God Be God
The sermon notes the recent, high profile visits of Pope Francis and Chinese President Xi Jinping to the US, as well as a tragic accident on a Seattle bridge. It reflects on the appointed texts to see if there are resources they offer that can help us come to terms with challenge and tragedy.
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Playing Second Fiddle
Someone once asked Leonard Bernstein, legendary conductor of the New York Philharmonic: WHAT IS THE MOST DIFFICULT INSTRUMENT TO PLAY? Without missing a beat he answered: SECOND FIDDLE. When Jesus tells his apprentices the truth about where the path they’re on is heading, they have no clue what he’s talking about. In fact, Mark says,…