Sermon Audio 1/16/2022, 2nd Sunday after Epiphany C

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

 

Second Sunday after Epiphany, Revised Common Lectionary Year C

 

John 2:1-11

 

In the rituals we share as Christians, God uses ordinary things to do the extraordinary.

 

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Sermon Audio 11/23/2016, Thanksgiving C

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo 

Thanksgiving, Lectionary Year C

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 

Our annual Thanksgiving Eve worship is an opportunity to reflect on what God has done for us and on how we live out our thanks to God. This lesson from Deuteronomy offers a ritual and a profession of faith to use when God's people give thanks for all God has done for us.

To hear this podcast: listen here, use this link, or use iTunes or Google Play Music to subscribe or listen by searching "Tengwall."

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

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

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." 

Sermon Audio 1/12/2014

Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo

Baptism of Our Lord, Lectionary Year A

Matthew 3:13-17

Every year we celebrate Jesus' baptism by John at the Jordan River because we need to hear anew that God's words for Jesus are for us also: we are beloved children of God. To make this point, I used one of my one-year-old son's favorite books, Water, Come Down! by Walter Wangerin Jr. as the basis for the entire sermon, and afterwards everyone came to the font to remember God's promise to them baptism.

Though the book plus the ritual took longer than I had planned, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and the book is rocketing to the top of the congregation's best-seller list (or it would if such a list existed). In fact, I've decided that for the rest of this season after Epiphany we will begin worship with a Thanksgiving for Baptism based on the book's text. Micah even found a copy of the book in our church library! Really, he was toddling around while I was just sitting in a meeting in that room, and all of a sudden he plopped the book onto my lap and wanted to read. I had no idea we had a copy, but it's available if folks want a closer look.