First Sermons from Bethlehem in the Midway, Saint Paul

 OK so here are links to my first three weeks of preaching at Bethlehem in the Midway in Saint Paul. 

Sunday October 18th - This one went way too long because I was introducing myself and had been unable to follow my usual sermon preparation schedule. Got a good joke in at the end at least. 

Sunday October 25th - This was was better. I have so many sermons built up for these folks and it's tough to choose just one of them at a time. Reformation Sunday is a good day to start some transitional things in a Lutheran congregation. 

Sunday November 1st - Death and resurrection is what I'm gonna be talking about here - like everywhere else! - so it's good to have All Saints Sunday and Jesus the Lamb in Revelation to help me frame that conversation. 

Well Hello

It has come to my attention that I have not updated this space since two jobs ago. Oops! I'll try to add sermon audio posts again here at least. I'll just say that my current gig at Bethlehem Lutheran in the Midway in Saint Paul - begun October 2026 - is very different from my previous two interims at Trinity Lutheran in Lindstrom and Christus Victor Lutheran in Apple Valley. Small town to suburb to urban center, and at least the previous two churches were similar in size, staff, and structure. This is a whole different situation, and I'm slowly acclimatizing myself to it and figuring out what is my job. 

I was going to say that I doubt anyone reads this, but it is eminently google-able so it's entirely possible someone will stumble upon it while trying to figure out what my deal when I'm interim jumping from church to church over the years. 

I probably won't do much with this space beyond sermon audios, and I'll try to figure out whether it's worth it even to do those using this now-ancient technology. Thanks!

Sermon Audio 6/26/2022, 3rd Sunday after Pentecost C

Hope Lutheran Church, Saint Paul (in person and live on Zoom)

 

Third Sunday after Pentecost, Revised Common Lectionary Year C

 

Galatians 5:1, 13-25

 

Sometimes the news of the day frames the way we need to share the gospel. Freedom and bodily autonomy and loving our neighbor. It's a lot. 

 

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Changes

News! After nearly nine years in Kalamazoo, I am now the pastor and mission developer with Hope Lutheran Church in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

I have a lot of questions. What will a faithful, committed, aging, low-numbers congregation become as they continue to follow the Holy Spirit? How will our partnership with Good Samaritan Lutheran Church, a Hmong-American ELCA congregation that shares our space, shape our shared ministry by responding to the needs of the neighborhood? What might God do next in the northeast corner of Saint Paul? 

I will try again to post audio of my sermons online, and possibly to write more in this space again - but no promises. Between moving, buying a house, getting a kid into school, starting two new jobs, and enjoying Lake Phalen just a couple of blocks a way, its' been a busy month around here. Hopefully things will settle down enough that I can find some kind of balance between family, house, health, and the various aspects of church present in my call to Hope.