The Path of Palms
A sermon on Matthew 21:1-11, Philippians 2:5-11, and Zechariah 9:9-10. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash.] Have you ever wondered why palms? It’s a legitimate curiosity, because palm branches are not a thing in our culture. Other than associations with Palm Sunday processions, I doubt any of us would think of waving palm branches as a sign of honor or petition for salvation. But, of course, the practice came from somewher
The Path of Accompanied Promise
A sermon on Luke 23:39–43 [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Mattia Poli on Unsplash.] I have a question I would like you to reflect on: If someone you had heard of but never met before was to make you a promise, what signs would you look for in order to trust that they would actually follow-through on that promise? Take a minute…think about it. You don’t really know their character, so what do you have to go on? I imagine that you might want to comp
The Path of Connection
A sermon on John 13:1–9, 33–35 [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by krakenimages on Unsplash.] This past week my mom had a bit of a health scare that put her in the E.R. She was home the next day and is doing much better now. It was probably the best outcome we could have asked for, but it was still a bit of a wake-up call. When we talked later in the week, she reminded me of some paperwork that she needed me to send back to her to give me access to a
The Path of Perspective
A sermon on Matthew 24:1–14. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Nadine E on Unsplash.] Today’s gospel is what biblical scholars call “apocalyptic literature.” And it’s what I call anxiety-inducing. I mean… Jesus’s disciples express their awe at a space constructed for God’s glory, and Jesus says “O, don’t be that impressed. This is all getting torn down.” And once they process this and realize Jesus is actually talking about the end of the world and
The Path of Repentance from Hopelessness
A sermon on Mark 12:1–12 [For an audio recording of this sermon, click here . Photo by Logan Fischer on Unsplash.] Like many of you, I woke up yesterday morning to the news of American bombs falling in Iran. And my heart sank at the loss of civilian lives (including at least 85 students at a girl’s school in Tehran). And my heart clenched with fear at how this violence could (some might say will, inevitably) escalate. And my blood boiled with frustrated anger at the unilatera
The Path of Self-Awareness
A sermon on Matthew 4:1-11. [for an audio recording of this sermon, click here. Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.] I mentioned last week that during the Season of Lent I would be preaching the “Palm Sunday Path,” but I’m assuming most of you don’t know what that is because it is something that has emerged just this year. The Palm Sunday path is a national, interdenominational movement that seeks to equip Christian people to organize together in visible actions that witness
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