Explore past sermons from Peace Lutheran Church. Read a summary, find the scripture references, and download the original sermon manuscript.
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DO AS I HAVE DONE
During his final meal with his apprentices, Jesus gets up from the table, strips to the waist, fastens a towel around himself, and begins washing their feet. Throwing more words at his disciples at this stage in the game would be pointless. So he shows them in one simple but powerful act how preaching turns…
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Aroma of Devotion
Science teaches us that smell, emotion, and memory share closely networked real estate in the brain’s limbic system. Today we find smell at the center of our gospel story, as Mary expresses her devotion and gratitude to Jesus with a lavishness that is beyond extravagant: she anoints his feet and wipes them with her hair….
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Coming Home
At the core of Jesus’ story about the lost Son who comes home again is the unrelenting love of the Father. For God, like this Father, mercy trumps “fairness.” When we get this, we understand our vocation to be “ambassadors of reconciliation.”
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Enough for All
Lent is a season for stopping our incessant activities long enough to discover what’s at the root of our appetites. Saint Augustine said: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Jesus taught that all our cravings for meaning and for fulfilling relationships are symptoms…
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God’s Lament
The way of the fox will always manifest itself in our world. But God’s ultimate way with humankind, the way of the Lord’s Messiah, is the way not of the fox but the hen, who longs to gather the chicks under her wings.
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Leftovers or First Fruits?
What if, in this Lenten season, we were to add to another discipline to our repertoire—First Fruits giving? What if, instead of giving God a portion of the leftovers after our obligations and appetites were satisfied, what if we gave God a tithe of the first and best fruits from our bank accounts? Might that…
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The Pale Blue Dot
This weekend marks the 20th anniversary of a photograph taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft of Earth from 4 billion miles away. In it, our planet is only a tiny speck of light surrounded by immense darkness. When Jesus took his companions up the mountain of Transfiguration to pray, they became party to a vision…
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Not OUT nor AROUND but THROUGH
When God calls us, our limitations never stand in the way; God provides the gifts we need to fulfill the call. When Christ calls us into deeper water, we may wonder if we’ve got it within us to keep afloat; we may feel desperate for a way out or around. But when our lives are…
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Today
Jesus could have spoken less directly to his home congregation to avoid ruffling feathers there. He could have kept his comments general instead of specific. Instead of saying, TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE HAS BEEN FULFILLED, he could of said, ONE DAY, ONE DAY THIS SCRIPTURE WILL BE FULFILLED. He could have conducted his ministry more conventionally…
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Walls & Boundaries
Our world is dominated by walls which divide us. Some boundaries are necessary. Through his death and resurrection Christ Jesus broke down the dividing wall of hostility. Diversity is received as gift.