The Anti-Hot-Take Gospel
A sermon on Matthew 17:1-9. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash.] So, I have a couple of questions today. First, I’m wondering how many of you watched the Superbowl, at least in part that week? Ok, what about the halftime show? The next question is a little bit different: is there anyone who has NOT, in the last 7 days, heard any “hot-takes” on the super-bowl halftime show? There have been a lot, right? I think probably the o
Affirming Identity, Challenging Action
A sermon on Matthew 5:13-20. Photo by satheeshkumar ram on Unsplash In this past week I have had a few unrelated conversations that have involved the distinction between what we do and who we are. What we do is about our actions, and of course those matter. Our actions can shape the course of our lives and have a huge impact (for good or bad) on the people around us. And, of course, our actions can sometimes reflect our character, especially when we fail to do the hard work
Blessing Those Close to the Kingdom
A sermon on Matthew 5:1-12. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here . Photo by Elsa Gonzalez on Unsplash.com ] It’s been a few years, so I am wondering if anyone here today remembers when we did a one-sitting reading of the whole Gospel of Matthew here at Abiding Peace? (Don’t worry, I’m not going to quiz you about themes, or narrative structure or anything. I just wanted to jog your memory about why it might be important to sometimes take a couple of hours to re
Called to Foolishness
A sermon on Matthew 4:12-23 and 1 Corinthians 1:10-18. [ Photo by Sven Pieren on Unsplash ] In our denomination (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America), the process for becoming a pastor is called Candidacy. It involves a variety of requirements, including both formal schooling and practical training, psychological testing, a number of writing submissions, and three separate meetings in which the candidate sits in a room full of more experienced pastors and synod leade