Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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Out with the Old, In with the New
We all yearn for new beginnings, both personally, and collectively, on a number of levels. The season of Epiphany we begin today celebrates the power of God?s light incarnate shining in our lives and in our world, and our texts during this season show us just how the God we see in Jesus will both…
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Rachel’s Gift
Against the “official version” of how the world is, was, and ever shall be, as the place wherein emperors make proclamations and governors flex their muscles, Luke’s story introduces us to a sub-version of history that bends our fears and sadness toward hope. And the gravitational center of that hope lies in a manger. Hope,…
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Grief Overtakes Rejoicing
This sermon grapples with the massacre that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut on December 14, 2012, using Matthew’s story of the Slaughter of the Innocents as a point of reference. It asks, what kind of “God-with-us” do we need in the wake of such a tragedy?
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A Blossoming Future
Toward the end of Return of the King, the final episode in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the dark minions of Mordor mass for battle and the end of all that is good seems inevitable, the story takes us to the white city of Gondor, Minas Tirith. At the pinnacle of the alabaster…
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End as Beginning
As the church year draws to a close, the Sunday readings pick up on themes about endings and beginnings, and today’s gospel reading is a case in point. Sandwiched between his confrontations with Temple authorities in chapter 12 and the events leading to his arrest and passion in chapter 14, chapter 13 contains pointed prophecies,…
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The Lord Will Provide
The sermon begins with a modern tale of a widow whose willingness to share opens the door to a hopeful future. In our Bible stories today we come face to face with two women who find themselves in poverty but who, nonetheless, are able to respond to the invitation of God to share something of…
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Weaving the Kingdom
On All Saints Sunday, an image of God weaving the kingdom.
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Wave of Mercy
Throughout chapters 8-10 of Mark’s gospel we follow Jesus on his way from Caesarea Philippi, north of Galilee, to the city of Jerusalem in the south, where his final days will unfold just as he has foretold, to the disbelief and dismay of his unenlightened disciples. This journey is framed by Mark with the healings…
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A Celebration of the Cosmic Story
In this, the first of four Sundays in the Season of Creation, a sermon dialog explores the vastness of the universe and God’s hand in bringing it into being.
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Getting Beyond Hypocrisy
“LORD,” the psalmist asks, “WHO MAY ABIDE UPON YOUR HOLY HILL?” And then comes the answer: Those who lead a blameless life and do what is right, who speak the truth from their heart; who do not slander with the tongue, and do no evil to their friends; and do not cast discredit upon a…