Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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The Spirit’s Paradigm
Sun bleached bones brought back to life. Visions and dreams brought into being through the Spirit’s midwifery. The Spirit of truth appointed by God to be our Advocate and guide. Three powerful texts with three powerful testimonies about what happens when God’s Spirit is unleashed in the world; each answering the question: WHERE IS THE…
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Rusty Tools
Waiting these final weeks of Easter for the outpouring of the Spirit is like waiting for the starter’s gun to fire.In this odd section of John’s gospel, after Jesus says RISE – LET US BE ON OUR WAY! He sits back down and we get three more chapters of teaching. The whole 17th chapter is…
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Love Liberates
Maya Angelou tells the story ofbeing raised by her Grandma, who believed in her through the years when Maya would not speak. Grandma told her: “You’re going to be a teacher, and teach all over the world.” Her grandma’s prophecy came true. Angelou concludes: “I am grateful to have been loved, and to be loved…
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By Paths as Yet Untrodden
During Easter our readings from ACTS tell how the Spirit of God, unleashed in the world, transforms a frightened and bewildered group of would-be followers into potent witnesses for the gospel. And how new connections are forged between unlikely friends. The upshot is: The work of the Spirit goes ahead of us, leading us to…
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Eyes on the Good Shepherd
Good Shepherd Sunday. We’re awfully good at telling stories so that the attention remains focused on US, the SHEEP: how we’re faithful and unfaithful. How we stay safe and how we get into trouble. How we’re baaaad sometimes and good other times. But Jesus makes it hard for us to do that for very long…
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Practicing Kintsugi
There is a centuries-old Japanese method for fixing broken pottery called kintsugi or “golden joinery”. Instead of trying to disguise or discard cracked or broken pottery, this technique accentuates the fractures and breaks. The plate or bowl is treated with a special lacquer in its broken places then dusted with powdered gold, silver, or platinum….
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Jesus the Gardener
Each of the four gospel writers tells the story of Easter Sunday in a different way. But John’s story is different in significant ways. John gives many titles to Jesus in his gospel: he is the Bread of Life, the Light of the world, the Good Shepherd, the True Vine—there are seven in all. But…
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Seedbed
A journey to the catacombs at Callixtus outside of Rome provides insight into Jesus’ words: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, to bears much fruit.” During an era when Christian teachings were anathema to the Empire’s interests and Christians were…
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God’s Core Values
The Hebrew children’s journey in the wilderness is not unlike road trips I used to go on as a kid in my family of ten. When things didn’t go right, we complained. But in this passage from Numbers, the fiery serpents are less about punishment and more about holding up a mirror. God’s core values…
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Our Truest Identity
This sermon looks at the appointed texts through the lens of Japanese Internment during WW2, and recent events: The murder of 21 Coptic Christians in Libya by ISIS forces, and the kidnapping of Missionary Phyllis Sortor in Nigeria. “Let it not happen again.” These words emblazoned on stone near Pritchard Park on Bainbridge Island call…