Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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God of the Living
The question behind the issue posed to Jesus by the Sadducees is whether there is a life beyond this one. Their question pokes fun at Jesus but he takes them seriously. TO the question, what is heaven like? there are few detailed answers in scripture. Mostly what we get are hints and glimpses. But what…
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The Ones the Son Shines Through
What comes to mind when you think of the title “saint”? A father brought his son to chapel on the campus where he taught one bright, autumn day. Pointing to beautiful stained glass windows, the father said, “Do you see those windows up there? Those windows show pictures of the saints. Do you know who…
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Our Continual Reformation
On trips to the beach as a girl, Jessica Duckworth would watch her mother crouch in the sand for hours making elaborate castles of sand. Duckworth calls this process of building a sand castle “an apt metaphor for a church of the cross.” The church of the cross, sustained by the Holy Spirit, resists desires…
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Swimming Upstream
An elementary school field trip to the Cedar River to witness migrating sockeye salmon returning to their natal stream opens the door to new connections behind Jacob’s wresting at the Jabbok and the tenacious widow who won’t take NO for an answer. Like the salmon who hurl themselves over every object in order to give…
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Community of Pain & Hope
The healing of the 10 lepers is a story about gratitude, for sure; and also a story about how healing is more a process that unfolds as we walk down the road than an instantaneous event. But when El Salvadoran Bishop Medardo Gomez attended our local pastor’s meeting, he opened up a reading of the…
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What Are We Here For?
The dimensions of our galaxy are mind-boggling: As many as 400,000 billion stars—and perhaps at least as many planets—arranged in a giant spiral disk of stars, dust, and gas measuring 100,000 light-years in diameter. Here we are this Sunday morning, sitting on what Carl Sagan called “this pale blue dot,” located in the “outer suburbs”…
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God’s Work – Our Hands
You can tell a lot about a person from looking at their hands. Our hands say so much about us and our story because they are at the forefront of how we engage in the world. Our dreams & visions, our convictions & commitments, and our will to act, may begin here (in the head),…
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Remembering Our Story
MY PEOPLE HAVE COMMITTED TWO EVILS, says the LORD. THEY HAVE FORSAKEN ME, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER, AND DUG OUT CISTERNS FOR THEMSELVES, CRACKED CISTERNS THAT CAN HOLD NO WATER. (2:13) God’s people have forgotten their stories; lost touch with the narrative that gave them birth. And because they have forgotten, they’ve lost touch…
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The Final Trajectory
Isaiah and Psalm 80 speak to the anguish of unfulfilled expectations in a relationship from opposite points of view. Life is complicated. And scripture allows for both perspectives without censoring either one. But how do we come to terms with the ending of the Isaiah text? The walls are broken down & all care is…
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Getting to Plumb
When you’re building a backyard treehouse, figuring things out as you go isn’t a bad thing. But when it comes to building and sustaining a society, having a secure, level base and a plumb walls on which you can erect a system of justice, fairness, and compassion is a crucial. And that’s where our first…