Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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End As Beginning
“The women went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Did Mark really intend for his Good News story to end this way? With no appearances of the risen One, no sharing about the empty tomb, no evidence that…
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Taste of Freedom
There’s an urgency is in the air of this story from Exodus. There’s no time for yeast; no time to boil water. No time to prepare the animal in the usual way—just roast it quickly over the fire. Make certain your shoes are laced and ready, your hiking staff is in hand, your walking clothes…
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Seed to Fruit, Death to Life
When his HOUR arrives, Jesus tells his disciples: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.” This sermon seeks to connect this saying with 21st century concerns, including the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the Health Care Act, and the…
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No Matter What
A 5,000 mile family trip in a converted bus nearly falls apart on day one. Israel’s wilderness journey nears abort status yet again. God may get tired of the complaining, he may become weary from our episodes of stupidity, our thinking we could handle things better on our own, our hard-heartedness and our judgmental ways….
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Holy Havoc
Misplaced religious zeal has done much, through the ages, to dishonor the name Christian, and such zeal continues, newly resurgent in our own time, among other communities of faith in addition to our own. So, we have good reason to be cautious when, midway through this Lenten journey, we come face to face with acts…
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No Spin Cyle
After declaring to Jesus, YOU ARE THE MESSIAH, and then hearing Jesus speak about risk, rejection, and death, Peter, like a good campaign manager, tries to “get in front” on the issue of just what “Messiah” means. Jesus responds: Those who would save their lives will lose them; those who would lose their lives for…
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Getting to YES
On the final Sunday of four under the stewardship focus, WE SAY YES, this sermon speaks about God’s YES to us, which comes before our Yes, and indeed, is even given to us when we say NO. Jesus spends 40 days saying YES to God and NO to anything that is not of God. He…
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Prayer with Legs
Among the Tribal communities of Northwestern California, the Brush Dance is a healing Dance that gathers the community around the needs of a sick child. You might call this ceremony “prayer with legs.” In the story from Mark, the friends of a paralyzed man bear him through obstacles and into the presence of Jesus. This,…
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Deeper Healing Required
More than any gospel writer, Mark shows us Jesus’ power to heal and to exorcise. Of the eighteen miracles recorded in Mark, thirteen have to do with healing and four of the thirteen are exorcisms where evil is sent packing, and the fractured, pieces of broken lives are made whole. The voices and powers of…
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A God Who Changes His Mind
In the world of presidential politics, changing one’s mind on just about anything is tantamount to treason. But do we really want leaders whose ideology is so inalterably written in stone that they are incapable of changing their mind, no matter what evidence may arise to the contrary? The church itself is hardly a “flexible”…