Saturday, December 26, 2015

Sermon Audio 12/24/2015 Christmas Eve


Nativity of Our Lord I - Christmas Eve



As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Peace is one of the central themes of Christmas, from the title Prince of Peace in Isaiah to the angel's declaration of peace on earth to the shepherds. So why does the story of Jesus' birth also include one of the least-peaceful names in our world today?

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Sermon Audio 12/13/2015, Advent 3C


Third Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year C


This sermon has everything - holiday party advice, tales of life and death, funny voices, guest musicians, and even the Krampus. This is the Advent sermon I've been waiting for.

This is the only sermon I've ever recorded that I listened to again. That's how much fun I had preaching this sermon. I talk too fast when I get excited and/or confused. Also, this sermon recorded on a different device than usual, so I wonder whether than will affect the sound quality at all. I guess we'll see (or hear, rather).


As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Sermon Audio 12/6/2015, Advent 2C


Second Sunday of Advent, Lectionary Year C



As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Advent is our season of waiting, both for Jesus to return and in a sense, for Jesus' birth 2000 years ago. How do we make sense of this waiting for both the past and the future?

Monday, November 16, 2015

Sermon Audio 11/15/2015, 25th Sunday after Pentecost B


25th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


"Do not be afraid!" In various forms, this good news permeates the entire Bible, spoken by so many voices to so many people. In light of this week's Gospel lesson on the fall of the temple, combined with recent terrorist attacks, the simple message to not be afraid sounds more radical than one might think at first. 

As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, November 2, 2015

Sermon Audio 11/1/2015, All Saints B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

All Saints Sunday, Lectionary Year B

Revelation 21:1-6b, Isaiah 25:6-9

This reading from Revelation features my favorite image in the Bible, the holy city coming down from heaven to earth where God will dwell with people forever. Isaiah offers a strikingly similar vision, some of the best good news around. But on this All Saints Sunday we ask: what about the times when good news doesn't feel like enough?

As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Sermon Audio 10/25/2015, Reformation Sunday


Reformation Sunday


Lutherans love to sing "A Mighty Fortress," and seemingly also love for forget the psalm on which the song is based, and for that matter, the rest of the song's first line. 

As always, listen here, use this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Sermon Audio 10/18/2015, 22nd Sunday after Pentecost B


21st Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Jesus redefined success from looking like glory and power to looking like service and giving. Today we commit to following Jesus together in this congregation, some as new members and some making an estimate of financial giving for the coming year. 


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Sermon Audio 10/11/2015, 20th Sunday after Pentecost B


20th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Today's Gospel lesson about Jesus and the rich man who asks how he can inherit eternal life turns on a single question from the text. It's not the question I would have expected. 

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, October 5, 2015

Sermon Audio 10/4/2015, 19th Sunday after Pentecost B


19th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Jesus' teaching on divorce is hard to talk about, and even harder to ignore. So let's talk about how people depend on each other, or don't. What does scripture have to say about how people depend on each other? 


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Sermon Audio 9/27/2015, 18th Sunday after Pentecost B


Day of Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Following Jesus is something we do together. 

As always, listen here, at this link, or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, September 14, 2015

Sermon Audio 9/13/2015, Acts Series Week 15


Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Our Acts sermon series for the summer of 2015 ends with the commissioning of Barnabas and Paul as they are set apart and sent forth from Antioch. On this "God's Work. Our Hands." Sunday, what can we learn about being set apart and sent forth? 

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Sermon Audio 9/6/2015, Acts Series Week Fourteen


Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


This Sunday we were blessed to hear the Word proclaimed by none other than the Rev. Sarah Friesen-Carper, Assistant to the Bishop for Congregational and Leadership Excellence of the North/West Lower Michigan Synod of the ELCA. She preached a powerful message about the Syrophoenician woman as part of "Confession, Repentance and Commitment to End Racism Sunday."

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Sermon Audio 8/30/2015, Acts Series Week Thirteen


Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


The Holy Spirit does not work on our schedule. We can dwell on the past or worry about the future, or we can look and see what God is doing right now.

Yes, I recognize the irony of posting this sermon audio a week late.

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, August 17, 2015

Sermon Audio 8/16/2015, Acts Series Week Eleven


Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B

Acts 11:1-18

The story of Peter and Cornelius may be the apex of our series on Acts, when God changes the rules to allow even Gentiles - like me - to receive baptism and the Holy Spirit. What can this transformational moment in the earliest church teach us about how God is acting today?

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, August 3, 2015

Sermon Audio 8/2/2015, Acts Series Week Nine


Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


The crisis that scattered the first church from Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria became an opportunity for the Holy Spirit to spread the gospel. Recent news that the Lutheran tradition is the whitest religious tradition in the US presents a very different kind of crisis. Will we be open to how the Holy Spirit can use our weakness as means to share the gospel?

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, July 27, 2015

Sermon Audio 7/26/2015, Acts Series Week Eight


Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Prophetic grief is the public lament that challenges the injustices that have led to violence against God's people. The death of Stephen in our Acts sermon series is an excellent lens through which we can explore prophetic grief as the work of following Jesus today. For more on prophetic grief, search the hashtags #PropheticGrief and #SlateSpeak (the online church conversation that inspired this sermon, by @TheSlateProject) on Twitter. 


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, July 20, 2015

Sermon Audio 7/19/2015, Acts Series Week Seven


8th Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


The Holy Spirit will mess with you. Thus I learned anew when a series of technological circumstances led me to preach this sermon from memory. Of course that was also the intended point of the sermon, on how the apostles' establishment of the diaconate in Acts 6 did not go as planned. Funny how that works.


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."




Monday, July 13, 2015

Sermon Audio 7/12/2015, Acts Sermon Series Week Six


Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B


Three challenging readings today - the death of John the Baptist, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira, and Amos arguing with Amaziah - all have a surprising thing in common. Each features a character with the same motivation: popularity. They wanted to impress people. They wanted people to like them. When is popularity not Good News? 


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, July 6, 2015

Sermon Audio 7/5/2015, Acts Sermon Series Week Five


Acts Sermon Series Week Five


This week our detour from Acts continues with an exploration of generosity in Paul's second letter to the Corinthians. My passion for generosity combines with translational nerdery, congregational participation, and Jesus' first sending of his twelve disciples to address a 20-year-old mystery. Much excitement!


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, June 29, 2015

Sermon Audio 6/27/2015, Day of Repentance for Racism and Mourning for Charleston Victims




In response to the massacre at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, we heeded the words of our Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton with a Day of Repentance and Mourning. The alleged shooter is a member of an ELCA congregation, and two of the victims, Hon. Rev. Clementa Pinckney and Rev. Daniel Simmons, were graduates of the ELCA seminary in South Carolina. It should not take these ELCA connections for our churches to rise up for racial justice, and that it did is one of the realities of which we repent. 

Thanks to Rozella White, ELCA Director of Young Adult Ministries; Rev. Meghan Johnston Aelabouni; and President Obama. Each brought us a necessary Word this morning. Links are to the full texts quoted in part in this sermon. 

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Sermon Audio 6/14/2015 - Acts Sermon Series Week Two


Acts Sermon Series, Week Two / Third Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary Year B



At my recent continuing education event, I learned about generosity, one of the core values of Lutheran Church of the Savior. What is generosity, and how does it flourish among us?

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, June 8, 2015

Sermon Audio 6/7/2015 - Acts Sermon Series Week One


Acts Sermon Series, Week One


Our sermon series on Acts begins with three things we need to know about the Holy Spirit as we prepare for Pentecost to come to Lutheran Church of the Savior. We begin with Jesus' final promise to his friends, that the Holy Spirit would empower them to do more than they had ever imagined.

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, June 1, 2015

Sermon Audio 5/31/2015 Holy Trinity Sunday


The Holy Trinity, Lectionary Year B


The Holy Trinity helps us to understand how God tries to relate to us. 


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Sermon Audio 5/24/2015, Day of Pentecost B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Day of Pentecost, Lectionary Year B

Acts 2:1-21

Do not let years of hearing this story domesticate it. The Holy Spirit transformed the lives of Jesus' apostles that day, and seeks to transform us today. Here at Lutheran Church of the Savior, we are beginning a two-year period of preparation for the Holy Spirit to transform us as individuals and as a congregation. We will celebrate our 50 years of ministry in 2017 not as an anniversary, but as a Pentecost. Prepare to be made new by the Holy Spirit.


As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Sermon Text May 17th 2015

I was away on May 10th, so no sermon audio for that day. Then May 17th my phone (recording device) completely malfunctioned and my sermon audio did not record. This is the second time that a sermon did not record, and the second time it was a roller derby-themed sermon that I thought people would want to listen to. Oh well. Instead I will post the text from which I preached that sermon. It contains much of what I said, though as always the audio is the real sermon and the text is merely my guide. In particular, I suspect there was more to points 3 and 4 below, but oh well.

Sermon Sunday May 17th, Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo


1.    It’s still the season of Easter, so one more time I’ll begin my sermon with the Good News: Jesus died and rose again for us, to forgive our sin and set us free to love God and love one another.
2.    Our first lesson from Acts today is one of my all-time favorite examples of the freedom we have in Christ, freedom to love God and love one another. The Ethiopian eunuch is the most outside of outsiders – foreign, dark-skinned, fabulously wealthy and powerful (which wouldn’t make him an outsider except that by that time Jesus’ followers had all given their money and possessions to the church and become poor), and a eunuch, a sexual minority explicitly excluded from worshiping God by the Law of Moses.

Monday, May 4, 2015

Sermon Audio 5/3/2015 Fifth Sunday after Easter B



After celebrating the death and resurrection of Jesus over Holy Week and Easter, and after recent events in Baltimore sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, we remember this important fact. We don't get to talk about Jesus without talking about state-sponsored violence.

Based on responses from the congregation, as well as my own impressions, I think this sermon was important enough that I will also share my prepared text below. Of course, the actual sermon as preached varied from the text, and each is its own entity. Unlike most of my sermons I believe there is value in sharing this text alongside the audio of the preached sermon. 

I'd also like to link to an important source for my reflections, as I quoted two of the essays at this link in the sermon. Preaching Reflections of Freddie Gray and Baltimore


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon Audio 4/26/2015 Fourth Sunday of Easter B



Love one another. The First Letter of John (not to be confused with the Gospel of John, similar though they are) is a great resource for understanding this phrase, so central to what it means for us to follow Jesus. 

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

May 2015 Newsletter Article: Let's Go for a Walk!


We are marching in the light of God,
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching in the light of God,
We are marching in the light of God.
We are marching, marching
We are marching, marching
We are marching in the light of God.

-  South African Traditional, “We Are Marching in the Light,” ELW 866

Let’s go for a walk.

This year, as I try to visit as many LCS folks as possible, I would like to invite you to take me outside on a walk to your favorite walking place. For all the years I’ve been here, I haven’t actually been to many of the most popular walking places in Kalamazoo. I haven’t been to the Nature Center or the Bird Sanctuary or the River Trail, or probably your favorite park or path. I think getting outdoors and getting some exercise would be a great time to catch up with you and see how things are going. I just don’t get out and walk much.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Sermon Audio 4/12/2015, Second Sunday of Easter B



How did the first apostles live together, and how can they inspire us to live more fully for God in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus?


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon Audio 4/5/2015, Easter Sunday B



Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

Mark's maybe-abbreviated story of Jesus' resurrection may be my favorite version of the story, showing how God's love for us in Jesus transcends the power of sin and death, yes, and also the power of fear. As usual, "Do not be afraid" is the beginning of the Good News.


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Friday, April 3, 2015

Sermon Audio 4/2/2015 Maundy Thursday



"Love one another" is Jesus' most powerful, challenging command to his disciples. He gives this new commandment during his final meal with them. How can we follow such a simple, complicated commandment? In this meal Jesus shows us how to love one another. 


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Monday, March 30, 2015

Sunday 3/29/2015 Sunday of the Passion / Palm Sunday B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Sunday of the Passion / Palm Sunday, Lectionary Year B

Philippians 2:5-11

This year, instead of again being annoyed that Palm Sunday and Sunday of the Passion are forced to share a single stage, I decided to embrace the paradox, and remembered the helpful guideline that Jesus is both.

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Sermon Audio 3/22/2015, Lent 5B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Fifth Sunday of Lent, Lectionary Year B

John 12:20-33

"[U]nless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." Jesus brings the wisdom to those who wish to see him. With cameos from Obi-Wan Kenobi and S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Phil Coulson.

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Monday, March 16, 2015

Sermon Audio 3/15/2015, Lent 4B



On the day of our big Shots for Shots fundraiser, a basketball event for the ELCA Malaria Campaign, we ran into a bit of adversity. God's grace is greater than this, or any, adversity. 


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Sermon Audio 3/8/2015, Lent 3B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Exodus 20:1-17

I've long found the Ten Commandments to be quite vexing, especially since learning that Lutherans count the Ten differently than any other Christian or Jewish group. (It's true. I looked it up on Wikipedia. And in the Book of Concord.) When we talk about God's Law, what are we really talking about? 

I admit, I really like this sermon, and hope you do too.

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Sermon Audio 3/1/2015, Lent 2B


Peter is a great biblical example of God using failure to accomplish God's intentions. Society teaches us to avoid failure at all costs, but Jesus shows us another way.

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon for 2/22/2015, Lent 1B



Each year on the first Sunday of Lent we hear about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. Some temptations are not the straightforward ones about money, sex or power, but instead are unexpected and can more easily worm their way into our hearts. Watch out for these temptations that seek to keep us from the reign of God. 

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon Audio for Ash Wednesday, 2/18/2015



Ash Wednesday reminds us that God comes to us through mysteries. The rite of ashes and repentance has a sacramental quality that draws us into deeper relatoinship with God and into deeper knowledge of ourselves. 

Here is the link to the full text of T.S. Eliot's poem "Ash Wednesday," partially quoted in the sermon. 

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Sermon Audio 2/15/2015, Transfiguration B



One definition of an epiphany is "a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way." Sometimes these moments happen on our worst days, and God is with us in those times.

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."

Monday, February 9, 2015

Sermon Audio 2/8/2015, Epiphany 5B



This was my first sermon after two weeks listening to the fine preaching of others. I tried to avoid the trap of saying everything when I got back to it, though the length of this sermon would suggest I was not as successful as I'd hoped to be. Still, it was fun to be back at it, and I enjoyed talking about Jesus' miraculous healing of "Grace" (the name we gave to Peter's mother-in-law, who deserves to be called something other than "Peter's mother-in-law.") Jesus frees us to follow him wherever he goes, wherever we go. 

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Monday, February 2, 2015

February Newsletter Article: Jubilee!

No sermon audio for 1/25/15 or 2/1/15, because we had excellent guest preachers both weeks, so instead today I can post my February Newsletter article and accompanying annotated schedule of Jubilee Events. Pancakes! Basketball! Bishop! Prayer! So much good stuff here, as we rediscover the joy of following Jesus together.



The glory of these forty days
we celebrate with songs of praise;
for Christ, through whom all things were made,
himself has fasted and has prayed.

Then grant, O God, that we may, too,
return in fast and prayer to you.
Our spirits strengthen with your grace,
and give us joy to see your face.

-  Latin hymn, tr. Maurice F. Bell, “The Glory of These Forty Days,” ELW 320

Lent and Jubilee. How does that make sense?

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Sermon 1/18/2015, Second Sunday after Epiphany B

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

1 Samuel 3:1-20

Young Samuel heard the voice of God, and Phillip told Nathanael to "come and see" what Jesus was all about. Our Psalm today describes our bodies as marvelously made by God, and Paul's letter to the Corinthians describes our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit. How do we experience God in our bodies, with our physical senses? And why does God come to us in these ways?

As always, listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall."


Monday, January 12, 2015

Sermon Audio 1/11/2015, Baptism of Our Lord B


Mark 1:3-11

Today we remembered Jesus' baptism and our own by hearing that each of us is a child of God. Our sermon today was less a proclamation of the gospel than an explanation of the ritual that would proclaim the message more clearly. And what better way to receive this good news than from a child?

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Sermon Audio 1/4/2015, Second Sunday of Christmas B



The Christmas season offers us so many ways to see and experience the overwhelming grace of God. Today's lesson from Ephesians is actually one incredible run-on sentence bursting with images of God's powerful grace for us and the world God loves. 

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon Audio 12/24/2014 Christmas Eve



The Christmas narrative in Luke's Gospel is very familiar to us, with Mary and Joseph and the stable and the shepherds and the angels. That familiarity sometimes obscures the many surprises in this story. Mary and Joseph? Why them? A stable? Angels? Shepherds? Every part of this story surprises us when we look with fresh eyes at the amazing tale of God's gift of love to the world in the birth of Jesus. In order to emphasize the surprising core of this story, I tried something new on this Christmas Eve, a small gift to reflect the amazing gift God gave at Christmas.


Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Sermon Audio 12/21/2014, 4th Sunday of Advent

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Luke 1:26-38

As we celebrate another baptism this Sunday, we remember that God always chooses us, and God's promises are so much greater than our own. Our response to God's promise is the wonderful freedom to love God and love one another, and I am excited to share this freedom with another baby and his family today.

Listen here or subscribe to the podcast on iTunes by searching "Tengwall." 

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

January 2015 Newsletter Article: Jubilee

After a holiday hiatus, this blog is back in business! In addition to this newsletter article, look for sermon audios for Sunday 12/21, Sunday 1/4, and Christmas Eve in the coming days. 



“10And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you: you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. 11That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you: you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. 12For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.”
- Leviticus 25:10-12

During the five years I have served you as pastor, I have been immensely proud of all the tremendous work we have done together for the sake of the gospel. The love of God in Jesus Christ has guided Lutheran Church of the Savior to faithfully take risks on new endeavors, to faithfully let go of things that no longer serve the gospel as they once did, and to faithfully continue many of our successful ministries. The place of “the church” in our world continues to evolve, and we, LCS, have met this challenge with trust that God is leading us to participate in God’s work in Kalamazoo and around the world.

Growth and change in recent years haven’t always been easy. We have faced challenges and conflicts, lost beloved members and sometimes hurt one another’s feelings even though that was not our intent. Helpfully, scripture reminds us that following Jesus was never meant to be easy. From disciples who left their boats and families when Jesus said “Follow me,” to the apostles whose proclamation of Jesus Christ led to imprisonment and even death, following Jesus has always been about trusting God to lead us through the unknown.

And.