Nov. 13, 2022 Isaiah 12 Luke 21:5-19   There’s a lot going on in today’s gospel passage.  It may not be obvious to you upon reading just this section that Luke is writing in, say, the year 90 about Jesus who was ministering in the year 30, and prophesying about the destruction of the temple […]

Oct. 30, 2022 Luke 9:1-10   Last week Jesus tells a parable “to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt.”  A Pharisee was exhibit A in the story and his prayer was contrasted to the very penitential prayer of a tax collector.  The parable led us into thinking […]

Oct. 23, 2022 Luke 18:9-14   I’ve been listening to a podcast recommended by a friend of mine called, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” Mars Hill was a mega church in Seattle, which began as a small in-home bible study that quickly exploded into a massive church with multiple campuses, over six thousand […]

Oct. 16,2022 Luke 18:1-18   Group Discussion: What do you think this parable is about? Is it about what Luke says it’s about? Does the passage encourage prayer? What does the passage say about God? Is God the unjust judge?   My commentaries all agree that Jesus is employing a rhetorical device here that would […]

Oct. 9, 2022 Luke 17:11-19   What’s this gospel passage about?  I’m going to invite you to sit in silence for a moment to think about it.   When I first read it for the sake of today’s sermon I was struck by the layers of potential interpretive pages upon which you could write a […]

Oct. 2, 2022 Psalm 137 2 Timothy 1:1-14 Luke 17:5-10   Today’s sermon is a bit of a bible study, or at least it begins that way.  The picture on the cover of your bulletin shows a fragment of ancient Greek writing and looks very much like what you would see if you were reading […]

Sept. 25, 2022 Luke 16:19-31   ‘There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs […]

Sept. 18, 2022 Luke 16:1-13   I discovered Wengen, Switzerland, which I’m still not sure I’m pronouncing correctly – because even there we heard it pronounced in different ways – after visiting with Will and Usurla Meier a number of years back.  Will was in the hospital and to make his room more comfortable the […]

Sept. 11, 2022 Luke 15:1-10 Exodus 3:7-8   The picture on the cover of your bulletin is a quick shot that I took of the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany.  It wasn’t entirely clear to me if pictures were allowed, but I couldn’t resist at least one, and of course this seemed to be the […]

April 17, 2022 Luke 24:1-12   Words from Greg Sterling’s most recent message to the community of alumni from Yale Divinity School keep ringing in my ears.  Usually, these messages from the Dean’s office aren’t filled with good news.  And, this one was no exception; Thomas Troeger had passed away.  The news hit me harder […]